The Anti SelfInsert
by freakyanimegal
Summary: -pic by Dayz26- He was for the most part a normal American teenager. Y'know, aside from the fact his father had taken him to Earth when he was three and raised him there, his name was Lloyd Aurion and he got dragged back to Sylvarant by Yuan. Other than that, normal.
1. Chapter 1

**An Earth-to-Symphonia insert like none you've ever seen….seeing as the person coming from Earth is the main character. How is that possible? Well….does it matter? I needed something to get my frustrations out on all these bad self-inserts!**

**I told myself I wouldn't post this, that I'd wait, eventually I ended up going 'If I see ONE more new self-insert I'm posting it!'**

**I saw the new SI**

**Here you go**

**NOTE PLEASE: I suppose I should've cleared this up right off the bat, but instead I didn't and got the expected reaction. I am not saying all self-inserts are bad, there are a couple I enjoy quite well myself, and I never said the SI I have that I started years ago is an exception to this SI surge. What I got fed up with is the sheer NUMBER of SI's and constantly dwindling new stories that have actual...plots, you know? I have no problem with SIs here and there the fact is there is hardly ANYTHING new posted that ISN'T an SI. It's quite upsetting :/ Now whether or not you wish to believe this or immediately think I'm saying I'm better than everyone else is not my problem. So to conclude:**

**Not all SIs are horrible**

**I do have an SI myself**

**I ONLY WROTE THIS BECAUSE OF THE SHEER NUMBER OF THEM. IF YOU WANT TO WHINE BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE I WASN'T TARGETING YOU SPECIFICALLY! **

**Thank you.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

On the sidelines a row of girls cheered in unison, executing various gymnastic moves as they chanted on their team. The lights illuminated the field as the darkening surroundings turned pitch black aside from the strings of lights from cars on the highway and the buildings in the distance. It was the last game of the season for their highschool, and their rival team was their opponent. Energy vibrated throughout the bleachers and from all sides of the field, the scoreboard showing a fairly even match….

"74! Get over here!" shouted the coach of the home-team; the Angels.

The young man wearing the jersey dashed over to his coach on the side-lines, breathing heavy.

"Look, I'm gonna switch your position with 38, all right? He's sloppy today and you've been exceptional in practice lately-"

"What-? But he's a senior-" the teen began

"And he's sucking!" scoffed the balding man. "Get your ass out there and take the quarterback position, 74!"

He flinched and then nodded, running back onto the field a grin working his way onto his face. Finally! All his hard work was paying off, and they were letting him- the underclassman- finally get his moment! He'd never been too hot at academics, much to the disdain of his father, but when it came to sports, martial arts or even sword-arts at his father's 'dojo' of sorts, he was a force to be reckoned with. His dad had had that small business since he was a kid, and in a lot of cities something like that was quite popular. Not that anyone used it, no one had used stuff like that for centuries, but it was considered a physical art-form of sorts- like fencing. It pretty much was, he thought- fencing, that was, but his father strictly reprimanded him whenever he referred to it like that. Must be his pride in that…. Speaking of his father… He said he'd be here for the game, he had to be around here somewhere. His eyes darted around and he grinned a bit as he spotted who he was looking for.

An auburn haired man in a business suit sat in the crowd, his russet eyes ambivalently scanning the scene. He had a rather young appearance for being the father of a highschool junior, something that threw off many people, but nonetheless the resemblance was obvious- so that they were often mistaken for brothers. His hair was cut short and neat, for the most part, though he kept his bangs long for some reason no one could figure out, keeping the red-brown strands covering one eye. He never let his hair grow too long, nor would he let his son, because quite frankly, when the boy was younger his hair had an almost- unnatural, quality to it when it got longer, as it seemed to damn right defy gravity. He'd gotten picked on quite a bit in elementary school for his hair which people would describe as 'spiky' and later demanded to know how much hair gel he used. The teen himself was a brunette, his eyes a deeper brown, but his facial structure was nearly identical to his fathers, though obviously younger, and he kept his hair cut short to his scalp as well. Though like his father, there was one lock of hair that he kept long, as he rather liked it, a side-swept across his forehead that drooped in two strands…it was odd, yes, but he refused to cut it whenever he got the rest of his hair cut. Well, his father was there….as emotionless as ever, at least he wasn't on his cellphone on a business call- in addition to his 'dojo' of sorts, his father was a rather notorious business man. Perhaps it was his curt, cold mannerisms, but he was quite intimidating when it came to business deals, and also to his 'school' of sorts. It was rather stunning the man managed both jobs, but he insisted that he needed very little sleep…if any.

"AURION! Get your head in the game!" shouted his coach.

"Y- yes sir!" he nodded, taking position.

Maybe this would be it, maybe he could finally prove himself. He'd gotten picked on all his life, and he'd never had much luck making friends, seeing as people were afraid to get picked on for hanging around with him… It almost changed when he got to middle school, and people saw his talent for sports and the like…but then it backfired. He was a little…freakishly, good. A little too fast, a little too strong, a little too coordinated… The coach's saw him as talented, his peers saw him as frightening. He'd been on every varsity team since he was a freshman, and being that, unfortunately made him even more unpopular. His own grade level assumed he thought he was better than everyone else, being a 'jock', and the older kids saw him as upstaging them. He just couldn't win… He sighed a bit and though of his father watching, wishing he had his mother's memento with him… It was a weird stone on a mount of sorts, his father had it strung on a chain for him and usually he wore it around his neck, hidden under his clothes. During games he had to put it in his locker, which he always double-checked was locked. He'd never be able to stand it if he lost it… Feh, that was something he got picked on for too, wearing 'jewelry'. To add it all up, his name got some jabs too.

'Lloyd Aurion' was kind of weird, he had to admit.

Maybe if he played really good now…he'd manage to get someone to like him. Not everyone was mean to him nowadays..but he'd still yet to make any real friends… Maybe it'd change this time, he'd impress everyone- even his father…

* * *

"You haven't eaten, Lloyd," said the man.

The brunette glanced up at his father, his head propped up by one arm he set on the table's edge, picking at his dish haphazardly.

"Yeah…" he trailed, "Sorry…"

"I was under the impression you liked this restaurant," his father said.

Lloyd shrugged, picking at his food with his fork. His red windbreaker sat on the back of the chair, leaving his black t-shirt with his school emblem, 'The Angels' written in big white letters with a wing on each end of the word. They'd won, very well, his coach had been over the moon, had showered him with praise, told him he was the best thing that happened to the team. Hell, the cheerleaders even hugged him- and he liked that, that part was great- but then after that… The rest of the team declared a victory party, the cheerleaders were invited, various members of the 'in-crowd'…but they'd flat out ignored Lloyd when he asked where, or even voiced his excitement. They'd let him standing there looking after them, his father walking to him from where he had sat. ….And even then, his damn dad could only manage an emotionless 'good job'. That was it. No friends to celebrate with, no team to party with, and yes, he was glad his father took him out for a 'celebration' of sorts, but….but it was just….

"I- I do, Dad," he smiled weakly.

He was always working, either at the office or running the sword-arts school. What did he have, besides practices, games and homework? Nothing much at all. With a small sigh he glanced down at the plate of sesame chicken and beef and peppers, briefly wondering if he should pour some soy sauce on it. Hm…maybe they should have gone for tacos instead…oh well, he didn't mind Chinese. Italian he hated, mainly because of the fact most of it used tomatoes…

"Lloyd," Kratos sighed softly, "If there's something on your mind, you can speak with me about it if you need to-"

"I'm fine," he said again.

"…"

The rest of the meal went in silence, and the ride back home did as well. Lloyd stared out the window dully as they drove off, Kratos glancing at him every now and then. The teen sighed after a minute and turned on the radio, frowning a bit when he found nothing to his favor-

"Oh, here we go," he grinned.

_Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed…_

"…Lloyd, do you really want to listen to this-?" Kratos began, sighing slightly.

"Oh come on Dad, you're driving, don't pay attention to it anyway," Lloyd half-smirked half-sighed.

However, he himself barely paid attention to the music, staring at the window as he began to fiddle with the chain of his mother's memento, lost in thought. What else could he do, huh? He was a nice guy, right? He was good at sports- not the smartest, yeah, but he did good enough to only get put back one grade (another bullying point) and no one really picked on him anymore. They just…didn't want to be around him. …That was arguably worse, now that he thought of it. What did he have to do? He'd even saved a couple other people from getting their heads flushed in a toilet here and there, but other than a quick thank you, nothing ever changed. Maybe that was the reason he didn't fit in with the jocks either, he was always the one saving the nerds, not locking them in their lockers… It wasn't like he wasn't able to talk to girls, either, it was just they were all so…mean, like that one cheerleader that was all over him until Lloyd pointed out she had a boyfriend, and was doing something she'd regret. After she threw a fit (and a book) at him, she had stormed off, told her friends, and that put an end to any girl talking to him. He sighed again, why couldn't he get anything right?

"Home sweet home," he muttered as he trudged into the two bedroom house, placing his jacket on the coat rack before making a beeline for the living room.

The brunette plopped on the couch and kicked off his red sneakers, flipping on the tv before grabbing the wireless play station controller on the side-table. Within a few minutes the seventeen year old was half-heartedly dissolved into a videogame he was about half-way through. What was his dad doing? Who knew, he was always doing something…

"God dammit, Luke! Enough with the emo crap!" Lloyd shouted at the screen. "Stupid- like dying will solve anything- CRAP!"

He was cut off by a bout of rapid button clicking, hastily managing to defeat the group of monsters that had attacked his party, only to become somewhat irritated as Jade delivered the finishing blow. Those characters always ticked him off a bit, the 'badass' ones that always make you look bad without even trying, sure, Jade WAS badass….but it irritated him. Kinda like him with his father, now that he thought about it, Kratos always kicked his butt when it came to sword-fighting at the dojo. That was such a weird word for it, it's not like they were in Japan. Then again, good old USA had pretty much everything…good and bad alike. His father was….scary, with a sword, an old weapon like that hardly seemed threatening nowadays, but he could swear that if you had a guy with a gun against his father with a sword, his dad would be standing over the other guy's corpse within the minute. Though…he found swords fascinating too…for some reason or another…. It was probably just that he participated with the dojo and stuff- he was an assistant teacher there, after all. He hadn't been beaten yet- ….well, aside from Kratos.

"Hey, Dad, did you want me to take out the trash?" he called over his shoulder, not moving his eyes from his current 'task' of saving Auldrant.

There was no answer.

"Dad?" he called, pausing the game.

That was weird, usually his father could hear him from anywhere no matter how quiet he tried to be…some freaky father-thing, he figured. However, now that he thought about it, the whole place was pretty damn quiet… Slowly he stood up, walking out of the living room as the sound of the background music for his current session of Tales of the Abyss played behind him. Something wasn't quite right….where was-?

Then he heard the voices.

"Enough, I told you that under no circumstances will I return," his father's voice said.

"You're being an idiot, Kratos," hissed a voice he didn't recognize, "You wouldn't even have this safe haven of yours if it wasn't for me, you owe me- you owe the worlds. You think you have the right to just walk away and leave them as they are because you don't need to live there any longer?"

"I will not risk Lloyd's safety by returning."

Lloyd fell silent, his eyes narrowed as he slowly approached the 'office' room, where his father worked- his study, if you would. There was someone here? What did they mean 'worlds'…or returning, for that matter? …His safety? What? Something was fishy here…

"Lloyd's safety-?" the new voice scoffed. "He doesn't have to be involved! Leave him here for a little while- you can come back, you know that- Yggdrasill doesn't even think he's alive anymore, it'll be fine-"

"And leave Lloyd here for who knows how long? This world may not be influenced by Yggdrasill, but that doesn't mean it is devoid of danger, this planet has just as many evils….besides, if I do aid you, it may end up that I do not return-"

"Now you're worried for your own life?" scoffed the new voice. "You're unbelievable-"

"Not for myself, Yuan, for him…he already grew up without a mother, and if I…I can't leave him alone now," his father said.

Lloyd swallowed nervously, inching up to the closed door, doing his best to keep from being heard. Whatever was going on, he didn't like the sound of it. Anything that involved his dad leaving- no, no he couldn't even think of that. His father was the only person he really had…and these names- 'Yuan', 'Yggdrasill'…what the hell? Even still, Kratos had said something about 'this planet'….pfft, now he had to be imagining things. What, like his father was an alien or something? What a riot, something else had to be going on here.

"Kratos, you know very well that the Chosen will begin her journey soon, this is a prime chance-"

"I said no, Yuan."

"Argh! You're- so obstinate! You're abandoning our home and everyone on it, you do realize that? You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for my help, it's time you helped someone else other than yourself for a change!"

Lloyd leaned his ear against the door, his face furrowed in a frown. Okay….something was very, very wrong with all this-

The door opened and he damn near fell in.

"W- Woah-!"

He stumbled in and managed to reclaim his balance, backing up a step as his father and…a stranger, stared at him.

"…Lloyd…" Kratos growled, having opened the door, "What are you doing?"

"Uh- uhm-"

"So this is Lloyd, then…."

Lloyd stared like an idiot at the man- it had to be a man, despite the long hair- whom stood with his arms crossed in front of him. It was like something out of a Lord of the Rings book- or maybe Tales of the Abyss. A guy in armor- as in actual armor- with a cape and all, and he had blue hair- like as in BLUE, he didn't think that shade could be possibly dying it…. Not to mention his ears seemed to be…pointed. What the hell? Who was this freak?

"Lloyd, go to your room," Kratos snapped, blocking Lloyd's view of the newcomer.

"W- What- what's going on? Who is that? What are you all talking about-?" the brunette stammered, attempting to get another look at the stranger.

"Go, now," Kratos snapped, glaring at his son.

"You know what, it's fine," Yuan smirked, shrugging, "I'll leave you be for now, Kratos….I'll be around."

Lloyd gasped as the man dissolved in a flash of light, Kratos hissing under his breath a bit in irritation. The man snapped at his son, redirecting his attention.

"Lloyd, what the hell were you doing?" he snapped.

"I-? Wh- What the hell? You're yelling at ME? What's going on-? How did he-? Who was-? What was-?"

"It's none of your concern, Lloyd," Kratos glared at his son, "Go to your room, now-"

"None of my-! Are you insane? You expect me not to want an explanation after that? What the hell was he talking about? Return where? Who's Yggdrasill-?"

"Get to your room, now!" Kratos snapped, glaring at the boy, who flinched, staring in slight fear at his father.

Lloyd attempted to say something more but instead ended up turning and running out of the room down the hall, slamming the door to his room behind him. He stood there for a minute, his mind blank, staring numbly into nothingness as he tried to organize his thoughts. This lasted for about a minute when his blank face slowly contorted to an angry snarl, his fists clenching tightly at his sides. You know what….? Fine. Fine! He'd had enough! He barely had a life here as it was and- and now his father was keeping something like this from him! What was it? He had no freaking idea, which made it even worse that Kratos hadn't said a damn word about it to him- Dammit! What was he hiding? What was going on? His own father, the one person he thought actually did trust him-

He'd had enough.

Before he realized what he had done, he was packing his backpack, stuffing in whatever he could fit, whatever he could take. Money, clothes, valuables…and yes, truthfully he took an electronic or two, but what teenager wouldn't, if they had them? Where was he going? Hell if he knew, but all he knew as that…that he didn't have anything here. Part of him knew it was illogical, yes, but he was too angry to think straight. He was fed up, fed up with his life, with the people in it, fed up with his father and his damn secrets…

"Going somewhere?"

"Wh-?"

Lloyd whirled around, coming face to face with the blue-haired man from earlier, whom was smirking at him.

"H- Hey- you're-" he began, eyes widening.

"I don't believe we were properly introduced, I'm Yuan," he said, holding out his hand.

Lloyd's eyes darted to his hand, then back up at the half-elf's face, warily taking in his appearance. Yuan waited a moment before sighing and drawing back his hand, placing a hand on his hips.

"Very well then, look….I imagine you're curious as to what was going on, hm? Then I suppose, my appearance alone is very….interesting, yes?" he smirked.

"…Yeah," Lloyd nodded, his eyes not leaving the man, "It is."

"Well then, I can clear all this up for you…if you really want to know what's going on, I can explain…" he smirked, turning a bit, "If you'll come with me, you'll find out everything you want to know."

"…Uh, yeah right," Lloyd scoffed.

"Pardon? You don't want to know?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"I do, but I'm not stupid enough to go off with some freaky cosplaying man that looks like a woman who knows where," the teen said flatly, "Get out of my room! How the hell did you get in here anyway?"

"Look, I'll let the insult slide this time," Yuan hissed, glaring at him, "But if you'll just shut up and come with me-"

"No thanks," Lloyd scoffed, grabbing his pack and heading for the door-

Yuan stood in front of the door, lightning forming around his hand. Lloyd gasped in shock, staggering back a bit, staring at the electricity in the man's palm. Holy-! What the hell-? How was he doing that? This wasn't- possible-

"I'm afraid you're going to come with me, either way, Lloyd," he said, his eyes narrowed dangerously, "Now you can go nicely, or I can drag you back unconscious, your choice."

"W- What the hell-!"

Yuan grabbed Lloyd's arm with his other hand, the teen yelping and attempting to break away, finding the man's grip was- well, inhuman.

"H- Hey! Let go of me you freak-! Dammit, what are you, superman or something-!"

There was a flash of light…and then, quite luckily for Lloyd, something went wrong. Yuan had intended to bring the boy back with him to Sylvarant, to the Renegade base… Yuan ended up there, yes, however, during the 'transport' of sorts, Lloyd managed to somehow loose his grip for just a split second. That second was enough, however, to land Lloyd….somewhere else.

So it was that a red-jacketed, sneakered, jeans wearing and back-pack carrying teenage boy from the United States of America found himself falling through the air and crashing on top of two Renegades whom had been about to attack a blonde girl and silver-haired boy.

"Ow….what the hell?" he groaned, sitting up, rubbing the back of his head.

"…Did he just fall from the sky?" said the silver-haired boy, who stared at the elder male in dull shock.

"It's raining people?" gasped the blonde.

Lloyd opened his eyes and spotted them, staring. He stared at the duo, and they stared straight back at him, both sides stunned by their weird clothing, and the items they had with them. However, they didn't get a long time to stare, seeing as the ground began to shake. Lloyd turned and went pale, spotting the large, bulky male that was marching toward them, armed to the teeth.

"Get them, Vidarr!"

Lloyd's jaw dropped.

"Holy-!"

Somehow the teen managed to jump to his feet, backing up from the behemoth and almost into the girl and younger boy.

"Yeah, uhm, if you can't fight, run," the silver-head muttered, though he looked like he wanted to run himself.

Lloyd's eyes jerked to the boy, the girl, the huge man and the unconscious soldiers on the ground, both of their swords lying discarded on the ground-

"I have no idea what the hell is going on here, but-"

He snatched up both swords, a little put off by their weight, but managed to take a stance well enough. He'd never thought he'd actually be thankful for all that sword-training…he thought it was just more or less to kill boredom- not to stop him from actually getting killed.

"What the heck have I gotten myself into?" Lloyd muttered as he stared up at the approaching foe.

**That was….fun.**

**As in, insanely fun :D (manic giggle) This is gonna be great!**


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys are all too nice, but I must say I appreciate it n.n Thank yooouuu**

**You may all have cookies (throws cookies)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**NOTE PLEASE: I suppose I should've cleared this up right off the bat, but instead I didn't and got the expected reaction. I am not saying all self-inserts are bad, there are a couple I enjoy quite well myself, and I never said the SI I have that I started years ago is an exception to this SI surge. What I got fed up with is the sheer NUMBER of SI's and constantly dwindling new stories that have actual...plots, you know? I have no problem with SIs here and there the fact is there is hardly ANYTHING new posted that ISN'T an SI. It's quite upsetting :/ Now whether or not you wish to believe this or immediately think I'm saying I'm better than everyone else is not my problem. **

**So to conclude:**

**Not all SIs are horrible**

**I do have an SI myself**

**I ONLY WROTE THIS BECAUSE OF THE SHEER NUMBER OF THEM. IF YOU WANT TO WHINE BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE I WASN'T TARGETING YOU SPECIFICALLY! **

**And to those of you with SIs who realized I wasn't trying to insult you , thank you very much. n.n**

**On a lighter note, have more cookies 'cause sugar makes me happy. Hope you enjoy!**

Lloyd stared up at the behemoth and wondered briefly just how many steroids this guy had taken before he was forced to dodge an attack, his face going pale as he noted the weapon was in fact a ball-and-chain type combination. Oh great, where was he, the middle ages? Even in the middle ages he didn't think people dressed like this though…

All right, he had to think- the legs! Yeah, if he could hurt this guy's legs it'd give them a big advantage- at least a chance!

"Hey! Blonde-girl!" he shouted over at the girl, who flinched and looked at him. "Those are charkams right-? Try getting his legs!"

She blinked and then nodded quickly, readying her projectiles to the man's right knee. Lloyd danced between the attacks, attempting to keep the foe busy while Colette tried to attack his legs-

"Fireball!"

Lloyd's jaw dropped as a mass of fire flew through the air and hit Vidarr in the arm, the man letting out a shout of anger and pain…though he was quite sure it was mostly anger.

"D- Did you just-?" Lloyd gasped, staring at the short silver-haired boy. "How did you do that-?"

"Look out!"

Lloyd whirled around with barely enough time to bring up his swords to stop the hammer from smashing his bones. He was knocked into the ground and with one quick motion Vidarr backhanded the two other adolescents into the ground.

"Finish them!" the leader shouted.

Lloyd had a brief flashback of playing Mortal Kombat, when the background voice yelled 'FINISH HIM' ….and then they got their heart ripped out.

This wasn't a very good day.

Vidarr went to do as he was instructed, Lloyd's eyes widening in horror as the man brought up his sledgehammer to flatten them.

"No-!" Lloyd shouted.

He was cut off with a loud bang, those assembled all freezing as their ears rung and the large man simply froze in place. Lloyd blinked, stunned as he wondered what had just happened. After a few seconds of silence a trickle of blood slipped down Vidarr's face, the goliath collapsing backwards onto the ground with an earth-shaking thud. His helmet fell off, revealing a bloody hole right between his eyes.

A gunshot-?

Just then he realized the old woman and the remaining attackers were staring at something behind him, so he of course turned to look as well. What he saw was…a mixed blessing.

"Dad-?" he gasped.

Kratos stood there, still in his business suit, holding a smoking gun that he had pointed at the soldiers, his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Dad? How did you get-" Lloyd began.

"Lloyd, are you all right?" he asked, not moving his gaze or his gun from the attackers.

"Wh-? Uh, yeah…" he trailed, blinking, "Where the hell did you get a gun?"

"Later, Lloyd," he hissed, advancing on the troops.

"Who…?" Botta began, staring.

Kratos' eyes narrowed and with his other hand he took out a small red pack of sorts, flipping it open with his hand.

"I assume this might clear it up for you," he said dangerously.

Lloyd hardly believed his eyes when the gun all but disappeared into a pack that no way could've held it, but damn near had a heart attack when his father pulled a FREAKING SWORD out of it in turn, taking a stance as he pointed it warningly at the troops.

Botta got the message.

"Damn-! You weren't supposed to- retreat for now!"

Looking at their fallen comrade, they didn't have to think twice about that order. They fled the scene before anyone could really say anything, through truthfully…it wasn't like anyone had snapped from their shock enough to say anything yet.

Kratos didn't seem fazed by this, however, and simply turned on heel and walked over to Lloyd, hoisting him up by the arm.

"D- Dad-? How did that-? Who were-? Where are-?" the brunette stammered like an idiot.

"How on earth did you get here?" Kratos snarled at his son, his wine eyes flashing.

"H- How did I get here, how did you get here? Where is here?"

"Uhm…excuse me…"

Both Aurions looked toward the speaker, who was the blond girl as she got to her feet and smiled weakly.

"Th…thank you both for helping us, I'm Colette," she said.

Once again the teen went to say something but ended up just staring. The sun on her golden hair, that just as sunny smile…wow…she was pretty….

"Uhm…who are you- if you don't mind telling us?" she asked with a slight frown, shaking Lloyd out of his trance.

"Wh-? Oh-!" Lloyd shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm Lloyd, and this is my dad, Kratos."

"Wow, he looks kinda young to be your da-" Genis began

"We get that a lot," Lloyd continued to smile in sheepish fashion, "Er, so-"

"Thank you both for helping to save the Chosen," the old lady spoke up, approaching them warily, "Though…I'm afraid I must ask…you see you both are rather…strange for these parts, I hope I give no offense…"

"Not at all, it's understandable," Kratos cut in hastily, "However before I answer any questions I need to have a word with my son, pardon me."

"With me-?" Lloyd started.

"Let's go," Kratos said simply, grabbing Lloyd's wrist and pulling him down the stairs.

"W- what-? Hey! Dad, let go! What's going on? Who were they-! Where are we-?"

The man ignored him until they had gotten out of sight of the others, pulling another object out of his strange red pack. It was roughly the size of a softball, a rather high-tech looking gadget with a strange screen on which just as strange symbols whirled.

"Huh-? What is that-?"

Kratos ignored him and pressed his thumb against the screen, holding on tightly, the machine whirred-

…and nothing happened.

"Uh…" Lloyd blinked, unsure of what exactly his reaction was supposed to be.

Kratos snarled, his eyes narrowed dangerously on the device.

"Of course, he shut off the receptors. Damn you, Yuan," he muttered.

"Receptors? What- Oh to hell with it! What the hell is going on, Dad? Tell me-!"

"Hush," Kratos stated, slipping the device back into the pack.

"How can you tell me to 'hush', Dad? Where are we? Who was that blue haired guy earlier! What's-"

Lloyd silenced immediately when his father turned his narrow eyes on him, giving him a glare that he had seen several times before, and always when he knew he was in deep trouble. Kratos surveyed him a moment and then released his wrist, his gaze not leaving his son.

"Lloyd, listen to me very carefully," he stated, "You are not to say a word at any time until I tell you otherwise, is that clear?"

"Huh-?"

"Is that clear?" Kratos snapped.

The boy flinched, eying his father a moment before he nodded.

"I'll tell you what you need to know when I can, for now you must remain silent," he said, his eyes darting back up the steps, "You have your mother's…memento, yes?"

The teen nodded.

"Good, take it out," Kratos said, his eyes returning to Lloyd's face.

"Mom's-? Why? What is-"

"We don't have much time before they come down," he snapped, "Do it."

Lloyd did as he was told, pulling out his mother's stone- and barely had it out before Kratos snatched it from him, snapping the chain right off of it. His son gasped and went to shout at his father when the man grabbed his wrist again, placing the mount of sorts onto the top of his left hand.

"There," Kratos stated, "That should do it."

"Huh-? Dad what did you-…"

He cut off, staring dumbly at nothing. When he had placed the gem on his hand…things felt different; it felt like he was full of energy, like he could run a marathon, like he could bench press that big guy that had attacked them just minutes ago. What was this? What was going on? He stared at the gem, tilting his hand and gasping a bit when the stone did not slide from the spot where it was attached- attached? It was attached to him? Huh? What the heck was this?

"Let me do the talking," Kratos stated, "Just try not to draw attention until I can explain what you need to know."

"O..okay," he said dumbly, too stunned by the new development with the gem to really think about it.

"Good, let's go," Kratos stated with a curt nod, turning and heading up the stairs.

"Wh-? I-…fine," he sighed, finally giving in, "But you'd better tell me what's going on later!"

If Kratos heard him he didn't show it, merely kept walking up to the chapel with Lloyd in tow.

"I apologize for that," Kratos stated as soon as they had come into sight of the old woman and two children, "As I imagine you must be quite unnerved by our appearances and the like."

The only response was a slow nod from the trio as Lloyd shifted uncomfortably, feeling their eyes on him.

"We're travelers from a rather remote place," he stated smoothly, "our homeland is relatively unheard of to the rest of the world, and as such you can understand our rather…different, styles, yes?"

"I- I guess that makes sense but- but what the heck was with that thing you had?" Genis said. "That metal thing that smoked and- and it killed that guy!"

"And- and he- Lloyd, right? He…kinda fell out of the sky…"

Lloyd stiffened at his father's side and Kratos' eyes narrowed, his hand tensing a bit. He didn't know about that, did he? Lloyd swallowed a bit, waiting to hear what kind of excuse his father would try to pass off for something that really couldn't have a convincing explanation.

"Pardon?" the man asked calmly.

"He fell out of the sky and landed on two of those Desians!" Genis huffed, getting red in the face.

"He really did," Colette frowned and nodded, her grandmother doing the same.

"I'm afraid I have no viable explanation for that," Kratos stated simply, "Sorry to have intruded on you, we shall be leaving now-"

"What?" Lloyd and the other two kids blurted.

"You can't just leave like that-!" Genis began.

"We're gonna leave just like that-?" Lloyd stared.

"Yes, we are," Kratos stated curtly, his tone holding a sense of finality that could have paralyzed a charging bull, "Let's go, Lloyd."

"I- but-" the teen stammered, his brown eyes glancing aside as his face furrowed in a frown.

"Please, wait!" Colette cried. "Can't you- uhm-"

"Would you please hear my request?"

Kratos glanced over at Phaidra, whom had spoken, and Lloyd looked over at her as well. The old woman frowned a bit, hesitant, before she took a breath and spoke.

"This is a brazen request, and honestly, I would not be asking this if I had any other option," she sighed, her wrinkled face furrowed further with worry, "but the Chosen was to receive the oracle in company of the priests, and with them dead she has no escort. Sir, if I might request, could you please escort her to the oracle?"

"Huh-?" Lloyd began, but was cut off by his father.

"I must decline," he said simply.

"Please, Sir, she will be likely to die if she is left to go by herself-"

Lloyd didn't even realize he had said anything until he felt his father's glare on his head.

"We'll help," he said, "we can't let her do that if it's that dangerous-"

"Lloyd," his father snapped, a deadly snarl in his voice.

"W- We can't!" he scoffed up at his father. "I mean, if it's dangerous then she needs someone to go with her! We all just got our asses handed to us but that one guy just a few minutes ago, and now we're just going to let her go by herself into some big dark temple-thing filled with who knows what? No way!"

"Lloyd-!" Kratos scowled, looking ready to back-hand his boy.

"No," Lloyd said, glaring right up at him, "Dad, I can't watch someone get in trouble and do nothing."

They looked at each other for a moment, Kratos frowning deeply as his son looked back with that fiery determination that was one of his defining traits. A trait Kratos would never doubt came from his mother, as the boy looked so much like her when he gave him that look he found himself flashing back to when she was alive… The thing was, knowing Anna, she'd want them to make sure the girl didn't get killed either.

"…" he sighed, turning to Phaidra, "If you're truly honest in asking for our assistance I suppose we may for now."

Lloyd grinned widely, obviously happy with having gotten his way, but Kratos slipped into silence with a frown plastered on his face. This was in no way good at all, Lloyd had no idea what they had gotten into and if he couldn't find some way to get Yuan to active the device again there would be no way they could return. Though, Lloyd did not seem to…care about that, at all. He seemed to be nothing but excited, he was more curious about this situation than he was unnerved.

"Thank you so much!" Colette smiled, giving a little bow.

"Hm…" Genis bit his lip, eying the pair warily.

"Hey no problem," Lloyd smiled, "So…uhm…Colette and Genis, right?"

"Yup!" Colette chirped. "Thank you for helping us, Lloyd!"

"Pick up those swords you used earlier, Lloyd," Kratos stated simply, glancing at the discarded weapons, "You'll need something to defend yourself."

"Huh-? Oh, right," he nodded.

However as they entered the temple, like most things that Lloyd got excited about, his enthusiasm faded quickly. They had barely set foot in the temple when confusion and frustration began to plague at Lloyd, as the million questions one would expect in his situation came surging forth again. The problem was he knew better than to say anything in the company of the girl and the short weird-haired boy, as they were already standing out like a cactus in a cafeteria. So while he was left unable to ask the billions of questions, instead he found himself being asked them in turn, mainly from Genis.

"So where did you guys say you were from again?" the boy asked coolly, narrowing his blue eyes on them.

"Uh.." Lloyd hesitated, looking to his father.

"No place you would have heard of in all likelihood," Kratos stated simply.

"Try me," the boy huffed, crossing his arms over his little torso.

"We were asked to come, we did not ask to accompany you," the man said, closing his eyes, "Therefore it would be rather rude to inquire information of the person you are asking a favor of when they would prefer not to answer, correct?"

"Ugh, he's using the big words," Lloyd muttered under his breath, wincing a little bit.

"…" Kratos sighed and kept going.

"Okay, fine, so you won't tell us," Genis pouted, "…and I guess it is private, but-"

"Genis, they said they didn't want to talk about it," Colette smiled softly, "So let's leave them alone now, okay?"

Lloyd looked at her a moment, noticing how Genis reluctantly gave in and the girl thanked him. Was she really that trusting? Or was she just stupid? …No, he didn't think she was stupid- maybe a little blond, but she was certainly trusting. That was probably a bad thing, yet at the same time he found it very….nice. It was hard to be very trusting, he thought, so maybe she was a bit naïve but he had to admit he respected that. She was really…something.

"Lloyd," Kratos broke his thoughts, "get ready, we have company."

"Huh? I don't see any more troops- …is that a giant spider?"

"A giant spider and two blobby things, I think," Colette chirped, "…oh wait…"

Lloyd went bug-eyed and stared at his father, doing his best not to shout 'what the hell?' at the top of his lungs. Kratos sent him another curt 'go with it and shut up' glare and took out his sword, Lloyd anxiously doing the same.

"Oh man…" he muttered under his breath.

"Fireball!" Genis cast, damn near making Lloyd jump to see magic again.

Colette whirled her charkams and Kratos rushed forward, cleaning slicing one of the blob like things in half. Lloyd stared a moment, having never seen his father use a sword on anything that was…alive, but then snapped out of it, trying to focus on fighting himself. Okay, so he was in some weird church in some weird world being attacked by an eight-legged freak and two living boogers, but he had to stay focused- …This was going to be hard. How could he do this-?

"Lloyd!"

He barely managed to bring up his swords to block an oncoming spider, which had launched at him. The teen yelped as the arachnid attempted to snap at him around the blades, its mandibles snapping, its eight eyes whirring and bulging. If there wasn't the fact a girl was watching him, he probably would've screamed like a two-year-old, but for the sake of his pride, he managed to hold it down. He knocked the spider to the ground with a shove of his swords, blocking another onslaught with one blade as it launched at him again and then-

…well he wasn't quite sure how he did it.

He felt a surge of warmth, a tingling sensation up from his left hand, into his arm, filling his whole body. Then the next second he just…acted.

"Demon Fang!" he shouted, whirling his sword forward.

He almost had a heart-attack when he saw the…wave, of sorts, leave his sword and bash into the spider, knocking it back and effectively severing one of its eight legs.

"How the hell did I-?" he stared, his mouth gaping slightly.

He didn't have much time to dwell on it, as the spider along with a couple other monsters found they didn't quite care about his shock. The battle continued for a few more panicked moments until the group of creatures lay dead on the ground, leaving Lloyd and the other two adolescents panting.

"Not bad, let's move along," Kratos said simply, sheathing his word.

…God help him, he was going to tear his father to SHREDS later if he didn't get a freaking explanation!

**A bit shorter than the last one, and I was a bit iffy on part of this chapter, but I did it the best I could. Nonetheless I hope you enjoyed it, n.n thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yes yes I know I should be writing for something else…-_-' I need to get Xotocl and APT updated .' but yeah, while I procrastinate on that, please enjoy what I do actually update n.n'**

**Dislcaimer: I own nothing.**

**And dayumm, 50 reviews with only two chapters O.o' I haven't gotten reviews like that since I wrote 'Grandkid'- but dare I say it I think this time I actually wrote something that is worthy of a review -_-' **

**(Shudder) Ooooo I can't believe I used to write like that…**

…**(cough) Right, so thank you everyone! n.n Have more cookies! …I'm running out of these darn virtual cookies….**

**Note: My friend Symphoniafan just posted a fic she's been writing for a while now, Waiting by the Window. It'd mean a lot if you'd check it out, she worked really hard on it and I've read a lot of it so far. It's really good 8D, so if you can please check it out.**

Lloyd did his best not to shout out his frustration, instead reduced to clamping his mouth shut to keep himself from blowing the place sky high. Okay, so there were big rock monsters that turned into neat, decorated blocks, conveniently on a floor that had holes that you could fit the block into, which conveniently made a path to- a ring that shot fire. _Fire. _Seriously, and they were going on about this 'Martel' and stuff….ugh, he had such a headache. How did they manage to even kill a monster made of rock with metal? Shouldn't their weapons have just…like…clanged off? This entire place was reminding him of a Tales game of all things- but then, it's not like that was likely-

"Ouch, that looks like a nasty bruise," Genis grimaced, looking at Lloyd's arm.

"Huh-? Oh…yeah…" he said, still distracted.

"Oh, here," Colette chirped, pulling something out of her pack, "Have an apple gel."

Lloyd's brain all but snapped, staring at the little jelly-blob in her hands that had a faint smell of an apple orchard.

"…Apple…gel…" he repeated slowly, staring at the red glob.

"Huh-? Oh, yes," she nodded, "you can eat them or rub them on your wound, they work either way- ..Lloyd?'

"Excuse me for just a minute," he said, stone-faced, holding up a single finger.

They blinked and stared after him as he turned on heel and walked away, turning a corner. A muffled screamed was heard and they jumped just a bit before he rounded the corner again, walking back toward them.

"Sorry about that, I'm fine," he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

He could get through this, right? As soon as they got out of this place he was going to get some answers, whether he had to pry it from his father or not, he was getting some damn answers. Besides, that fire-ring thing looked like it could be fun to use, how did it work? It just looked like a plain old ring, how was that going help them at all? It's not like that little flame would be able to help them out much in fights. Then again, Colette mentioned something about it being able to unseal some door that was further in, though he still didn't-

Woah.

…That wasn't a normal door.

"What the-?" he shook his head. "What is that? It's like a blue…lightning..force-field or something."

"Yeah it's kinda weird," Genis agreed, but didn't seem nearly as weirded out as the older boy.

"Oh! This is it," Colette nodded, "We can use the ring on this and we should be…able to get through."

Her face fell for just a second, her blue eyes misting with some hidden remorse. Lloyd stopped, staring at her a moment as her expression morphed into one of heart-break. It lasted just a second before she jerked her head up again, smiling softly at him.

"You have the ring, right?" she asked. "Could you please use it on the door?"

"Uh…yeah," He nodded.

What was wrong with her? She had seemed fine up until this point, was she getting sick or something? Maybe she was tired? No, no there was something more, something was really bothering her…

"Okay, so I should just shoot it?" he asked, turning to the seal with the ring held up.

"Uh-huh," she nodded.

"…I don't see shooting fire at a door will help anything, but okay- woah!"

He stumbled backwards as the fire made contact with the barrier, dispelling it and the stone door behind it sliding open of its own accord. How the hell was that even possible? Then again, how the hell was any of this really possible? Agh, if he freaked out every time something weird happened he was going to have a stroke in a matter of hours. He noticed Kratos eye him, the look clearly telling him to keep his mouth shut, reminding him to be quiet. The brunette grumbled and silenced himself, trying to look unfazed.

"There it is, up ahead," Colette pointed to the portal ahead of them.

"What? That glowing circle thi-?"

He gritted his teeth to stifle a yelp when Kratos casually stomped on his toes, obviously not pleased that Lloyd wasn't getting the message.

"Yes, let's go," Colette nodded, walking forward.

Genis eyed him warily before following after the girl, his suspicion having not waned at all since they had arrived. Lloyd, making sure to keep his mouth tightly closed at this point, followed after them with a quick glare at his father, stalking off toward the blue circle just when Colette disappeared suddenly. Lloyd nearly gasped again when he noticed Genis simply go in and do the same…

"What the hell! Did they just disappear!" Lloyd blurted now that they were alone.

"It's a warp panel," Kratos explain with a slight sight, "if you stand on it it transports you."

"What kind of Banjo-Tooie bullshit is this?" Lloyd scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Next I suppose you're going to tell me that here eggs can be used as lethal weapons?"

Kratos sighed and shook his head, walking off toward the circle.

"You could at least answer me!" Lloyd scowled. "How does this thing even work? This place uses swords and medieval flails and you expect me to just believe that they have Star Trek technology? Come on!"

He was met with more silence and instead decided to pester his father further later, walking up to the circle hesitantly, looking down at the swirling, glowing blue surface. What was this stuff, even? He didn't really want to touch it, what if it was radioactive or something? Sure, he was getting a D in chemistry, but even he knew that if something is glowing a strange color it probably wasn't safe to touch. What else could he do, though? The two of them and his father had gone up already, he had to go…

"…" he swallowed nervously, "If I end up crossed with a fly I'm going to kill someone."

Gathering his courage he stepped onto the platform, standing still just a second before he felt himself stretch out, like he was some kind of slinky being pulled apart. It lasted just a second, at most, when it was like he compressed again, appearing in a new room with the others already waiting. He nearly staggered, feeling a bit dizzy and sick to his stomach, hurriedly getting off that platform. Well at least he seemed to still be in one piece…

Looking up and around he noticed they were in a circular room, a shrine of sorts in the center with a glowing red gem in the center. Wonderful, more glowing things, this was not a good sign.

"That's the Cruxis Crystal, right?" Genis asked Colette.

"Yes," she nodded, smiling a little bit, "they say that I was born with that in my hand."

"They do-?" Lloyd cut himself off, eying his father, who glared at him slightly.

"Well…I'm not really sure if it's true," Colette frowned a little, "but that's what they say."

Oh, all right so that was a normal question for him to ask, which explained why Kratos didn't hurt him again. That was good- what the heck was that light?

"Look at that light!" Genis exclaimed, staring.

All right so that one would've been okay for him to ask too right?

He looked up at the light, backing up slightly. What the heck was that? An indoor UFO or something? It gave off a flash and Lloyd felt his jaw drop, eyes widening. A person with wings- an angel? What? Seriously? He HAD to be hallucinating or something. He felt Kratos put a hand on his shoulder, not to comfort him, but to warn him. That was unnecessary however, seeing as he couldn't find any words to say anyway.

"I- Is that your real father, Colette?" Genis asked, looking at the girl, whose eyes were fixated on the angel, a flicker of apprehension on her face.

"I am Remiel, I am an angel of judgment," he began

Oh bullcrap. It was unlikely this guy was an angel, and if he was it was even MORE unlikely that this guy was Remiel. That was like..one of the seven angels…uhm…well he didn't remember it well, but they mentioned the name in revelations right? Ah, he didn't know, but this all screamed 'wrong' to him.

"I am here to guide Colette, daughter of the mana lineage, on her journey to heaven as the seventh Chosen."

.Okay he was lost. What the hell did they mean by mana? The only thing he'd ever heard of mana was in Final Fantasy games, and that was like…associated with magic or something.

"I humbly accept this task," Colette stated, closing her eyes and bowing her head.

The angel nodded and the glowing red gem in the altar gave off a flash, flying through the air to her neck. Lloyd gaped as, with another flash, the crystal attached to her neck, a gold ornamental design around it. Where the hell did that come from! How did it fly like that? God he was going to need therapy for this, assuming that he hadn't already snapped like a twig.

"Very good, we of Cruxis bless this event and, in the name of the Goddess Martel, bestow the Tower of Salvation upon Sylvarant."

….Okay. Okay that's it. He needed a break. He didn't know any of this stuff, he didn't have the slightest legitimate clue as to where or when he was and how all this magical crap was happening. What the heck was-?

"Wow! So that's the tower!" Genis exclaimed, looking out the window.

Looking after his gaze, Lloyd's eyes widened even more, noticing the big white column that had appeared on the horizon. That was a tower? It was huge! That thing- no way! How did that thing just appear like that? How was it even standing! Wouldn't something that tall fall over? Did he just end up in bullshit land or something? It was too normal to be Wonderland, at least…and he was pretty sure he hadn't eaten any mushrooms.

"We of Cruxis shall grant you the power of the angels with each seal you unlock," Remiel stated, "First head south, to the Seal of Fire, offer your prayers in that distant land."

"I humbly accept this task," Colette stated again, bowing her head.

Remiel nodded and began to fly up, causing Colette to jolt.

"W- wait! Please wait!" she said, hesitating when he stopped, looking at her. "Are you really my fa-?"

"First head to the Seal of Fire, understood, my beloved daughter Colette?"

Despite Colette's happy reaction, Lloyd felt his frown deepen. He didn't buy this at all, especially just then. When he'd said that 'my beloved daughter' thing…it felt wrong. There wasn't a …there wasn't any sort of attachment in his voice. He hesitated, looking at him and then back at Colette, who was smiling softly, her eyes glinting. They were pretty when they did that…

"Lloyd, are you all right?"

He shook his head, just realizing that the angel had left, Colette and Genis eying him now in turn.

"Uh- y- yeah," he nodded, "Sorry about that, I guess I was kinda..shocked."

They seemed to buy that, but they didn't get much time to think things over seeing as Kratos turned again to the portal from which they had entered.

"Let's go, she's received the Oracle, there's no longer any point in lingering," he stated calmly.

Lloyd huffed slightly and glared after his father, already making a mental outline on how he was going to go about shouting at him later. Nonetheless, he followed after, with Colette and Genis with them. The group made their way back to the main floor (Lloyd doing his best not to double over with queasiness again) and it looked like they were almost done with this place. …That is until they found the silver-haired woman spazzing in the lobby. Lloyd blinked and raised an eyebrow, easily figuring she was related to Genis, but her behavior was…insane. That was it. The way she was flitting around and cooing over the architecture, she looked like a crack addict.

"Oh this is simply MARVELOUS!" she cried, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Sis?" Genis cried.

"Professor?" Colette frowned.

The woman jolted and whirled around, startled. She nearly went to stammer what was most likely a subject-changing distraction, but froze when she spotted the two men with them. Her eyes widened slightly and then narrowed dangerously, eying the two strangers.

"Genis? Colette? Who are they?"

"Huh? Oh, this is Mr. Kratos and his son, Lloyd," Colette explained, smiling anxiously, "They helped protect us from the Desians earlier…"

The woman eyed them dangerously, stalking forward toward her brother, eyes not leaving the men. Lloyd couldn't help but fidget under her gaze, feeling as if he was a roach and she was deciding on the best way to squash him. Kratos narrowed his eyes, meeting her gaze. Her suspicion was far more advanced than her brother's, that much was certain. She checked her brother over quickly before turning to him, Lloyd trying to inconspicuously hide behind his father.

"Kratos, is it?" she stated coldly, glaring at him. "Who exactly are you?"

"Rather rude to ask such a thing when you have yet to even introduce yourself," he retaliated smoothly, his voice barely breaking his monotone.

"…I'm Raine Sage," she stated, scanning him, noting the sword around his waist and Lloyd attempting to hide behind Kratos' taller form.

"I assume it's our appearance you're wary of, yes?" Kratos stated simply, his gaze unwavering.

"…Where are you from?" she asked, avoiding his question.

"As I told Phaidra, both my son and I are from a rather reclusive part of Sylvarant, as such we have blatantly different styles, as you can see," he recited, "we were passing by when your brother and the Chosen were attacked. We merely assisted."

"I see," she stated, frowning.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Uhm…could we maybe get out of here if we're going to talk?" Colette asked hesitantly. "This place isn't very safe."

"What-? Oh, yes. of course," Raine nodded, briefly glancing at Colette and then back at the Aurions, "All right, let's get going. We can talk at the village."

"Vil-?" Lloyd began, Kratos sending him a sharp glare.

Lloyd shut up.

"Certainly," Kratos said to Raine in turn, "Iselia's just down the coast after all."

"Oh? You know that how?" Raine tested.

"I told you we were traveling, obviously I would make a note of the closest towns," Kratos stated in rebuttal.

"If you're done flirting can we go now?" Lloyd sighed, exasperated.

Kratos cuffed him upside the head.

"Let's go," he turned, heading for the exit.

"Flirting?" Raine eyed Lloyd.

"…Well no I guess not, but that's the most I've ever seen Dad talk to a woman," he frowned, rubbing the back of his head.

Silence.

"Lloyd." Kratos called back sternly.

"C- Coming!" he jolted, dashing after his father, knowing he was pushing his luck.

"…."

"He fell out of the sky," Genis said once they were out of earshot.

"What?" Raine looked at him.

"…Lloyd did, he fell out of the sky," Genis said, "and I swear to Martel I'm not kidding."

"It was very strange," Colette said, looking a bit dazed.

"That's ridiculous," Raine scowled, "There's no way-"

She stopped when she noticed their expressions. She stared at them a moment more before looking after the two strangers, her eyes widening a bit and then narrowing dangerously. Travelers? She highly doubted that. She was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

**Sorry if that was a bit short. But it seemed like the right place to end it. Good way to pace it it seemed…anyway, I hope you enjoyed **

**Review if you would like**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well finally got around to writing this. Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"Dad, what the hell are you wearing?"

The question was simple, blunt, and rather bland, actually, yet somehow it totally encapsulated all of the complete and utter shock at his father's appearance. When they had come into sight of the village, Raine having joined them, deciding that her excavation of the temple sadly did not have priority over watching over her younger brother and the young Chosen with the two strangers; Kratos had excused himself briefly and headed into the woods. Lloyd had assumed simply that his father had to go, but then when Kratos asked to take his pack he knew that wasn't the case, but given by the look his father gave him he handed it over. Several minutes later, Kratos walked back toward them, adjusting one of the two purple gauntlets he now wore, effectively drawing the surprised looks from not just Lloyd but from their traveling companions. It was so..bizarre; just plain and simple. He'd always seen his father dressed either formally or semi-casual, but despite that they were always normal clothes, and it's not like he ever dressed up for Halloween with him when he was younger. So to see him in this weird purple outfit, complete with some weird tailed-cape of sorts, was nothing short of a mindfuck.

"I had figured I'd draw less attention in these clothes in the village," he stated simply, ignoring the stares the entourage was giving him.

"W- Where did you even get those-!" Lloyd stammered, stunned.

"They weren't in that pack your brought? Though it's an unusual one…" Raine trailed, eyeing the two.

"They were," Kratos said smoothly, handing the backpack to Lloyd, also giving him a stern 'keep your mouth shut' look with it.

"Oh, I see," she said, though obviously her suspicions were still avid.

"They were? But I thought-" Genis began, eying Lloyd.

"Unfortunately there is nothing for Lloyd to blend in more effectively, but we'll secure him something," Kratos stated simply.

Lloyd and the Sages eyed him, all of them suspicious. Lloyd knew his father hadn't gotten that out of his bag, he must have had them in that weird little pack thing he pulled that sword out of- however that worked. Genis was thinking along the same lines and Raine, though suspicious, had not seen said event earlier, and was led to believe that the outfit was in fact in Lloyd's bag…that Kratos convinced her only barely.

"Uh…yeah I guess I will stick out like a sore thumb huh?" he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked down at his clothes.

"Here," Kratos handed him back his backpack, "try to keep behind us then if at all possible."

"We're going to go to my house," Colette said, "It's not too far."

"All right then," Kratos nodded.

"Though if you were traveling in this area, why did you only now change into these clothes if you had them?" Raine asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I did not expect to run into anyone, until Lloyd got involved at the temple," he said smoothly, the same way he'd talk when negotiating with people over the phone, Lloyd noted, "by then you had already seen us and there was little point in changing when it was just the group of you who would see."

"…I see," Raine stated.

Lloyd groaned, trying to wrap his head around all of this without looking obvious he was about to blow a fuse.

"Um…Grandmother is sort of expecting me," Colette spoke up hesitantly, slightly apologetic.

"What-?Oh, right, let's go," Lloyd nodded, "I'm sorry we're keeping you."

She gave a weak smile and shook her head, her face falling for just a second right after.

"No no…it's all right," she said with a nod, "Uhm, come on then, I'll take you there."

Lloyd nodded and glanced warily at his father, who said nothing, walking off after the blonde girl when she started off for her house. Lloyd attempted to stay out of sight like he had been told, but nonetheless stares and whispers flitted about as they walked through town. Lloyd could see why, no one in this place dressed like a modern human being. Though the entire town wasn't exactly modern, it looked like a third world village to him, which is kinda was. There was no electricity of any sort, it looked like, and the houses were all simple build of wood, a well spotted here and there. Then again that sort of went along with the old-style weapons and the like he'd seen them all using here. He frowned and looked ahead at the back of his father's head, the man walking in silence ahead of him, the tails of the strange purple cloak swaying in step behind him.

What was…going on?

He had asked that question about a million times in the last couple of hours, but accompanied with it had been his frustration, confusion and anger. But as time went own he found that frustration fading, steadily being replaced by curiosity and a building apprehension.

Now it seemed to be hitting him, hitting him with that cruel twinge of reality. What was going on? Why had he come here? Where WAS this place? How could he get home? And how…how did his father know about it? He thought back to earlier that night- day? At home it had been day, but here it looked like it was barely the afternoon. That...person, that had tried to kidnap him, he'd definitely looked like he'd have belonged to this strange place. So…his dad knew him, right? He had seen them talking, but still, how the heck did his father know him? How?

Frowning he thought back to earlier when he had heard their discussion. Something about…

Wait.

…Running away. That guy had said his Dad had ran away, run away and-

He flinched.

Abandoning his…home.

His eyes widened and he stifled a choke, his eyes still locked on his father.

Home? Could that be-? What- no, no way, that was ridiculous. This couldn't have been his Dad's home- right? Gah! He didn't even know where he was! Once again he spiraled into his thoughts, lost in them before he realized his father had grabbed his wrist.

"Hey-! Dad-?"

"I need to speak with my son, pardon me," Kratos said back to the silver-haired people and the blonde girl.

Raine's eyes narrowed but she relented, letting Kratos pull Lloyd to the back of the house they had walked up to, which he guessed was Colette's house.

"Dad-?"

"I won't be able to speak with you long, Lloyd," Kratos sighed, looking down at his son.

His father always had a knack for looking well-rested but somehow looking tired, like an old man, weary and exhausted. That was the look that shined in his eyes at the moment, making Lloyd stare at him, concern eating at his insides.

"Dad-"

"We're in a place called Sylvarant," he stated, "this is the village of Iselia, the village of 'oracles' as they say."

"Yeah- okay, but where IS 'Sylvarant'? This- there are people with silver hair and- monsters and magic and all kinds of crazy- …we're…not on Earth, are we?"

The man flinched but conceded with a nod, his eye misted.

"No Lloyd, we're not on Earth."

He stared at him.

"Th…then…where are we? We're on a different planet?"

"Yes," he said simply.

"What-? How- Bullshit!" Lloyd snapped, "You mean to tell me there's another planet that not only has life, but humans? Are you kidding me?"

"Then what is your explanation?"

He had no answer for that.

"The fact of the matter, Lloyd, is this is true," he sighed, closing his eyes, "This place is called Sylvarant, they worship a Goddess named Martel, and Colette is their 'Chosen One', who is supposed to go on a journey to revive mana to this world."

"Mana?" Lloyd frowned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Mana is the life essence of this world, I suppose on Earth we would just consider it energy," he closed his eyes, "Here it's extremely important, it allows crops to grow and overall supports the economies and well being of this world."

"I- just hold on a minute," he shook his head, biting his lip, trying to wrap his head around this, "I can't- I- okay, fine, then who were those guys that attacked us?"

"They are called Desians," his father said flatly, "they terrorize the populace."

"So you're telling me we're on another planet," Lloyd said flatly, "Where they use swords, have magic, advanced teleporting technology, and a Chosen One who needs to save the world from an evil group that torments the world along with monsters."

"…" Kratos nodded.

"Oh God, I'm in a Final Fantasy game," the teen stared dumbly at him.

Kratos sighed and brought his palm to his face, shaking his head.

"No Lloyd, this isn't a videogame," he sighed.

"Are you sure? Because I'm going to start calling that girl 'Yuna' the instant I hear about something like a bunch of weird temples she has to travel to-…." Lloyd groaned, "All right but if she can summon some weird spirit thing then I am calling her Yuna."

Kratos sighed.

"I have no idea what that means," he explained in his exasperation.

"Yeah, I guess you wouldn't," Lloyd sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Now then, the only other important piece of information that I can tell you before they come looking for us…" he glanced back the way they had came, "that…memento, of your mother's…is not a normal stone."

Lloyd looked at his father and almost come up with a snappy response, but instead frowned, looking down at the gem that sat on the top of his hand. Of course it wasn't a normal stone, he'd known that for…well, a long time now. Well maybe not known, but he had had a feeling, it was only today when it was placed on his hand were his suspicions confirmed, that this stone was more than just a rock. He had felt it before, though he hadn't ever even dared to speak his thoughts about the subject again…

* * *

"So I stole the ball and kicked it right in! I tell you, Mom, it was awesome, you should've seen me, I totally made Mike eat his words."

The twelve year old smiled softly at the stone in his hand, the gem gleaming in the light overhead in the locker room as the brunette awaited his father to come pick him up. He had gotten to leave early, he'd played so well that the coach didn't even make him do laps at the end of practice! What a day, and the coach had been so impressed! A grin split his face and he continued spewing his thoughts to the blue stone.

"He's gonna put me in as a starter next game! I can't wait to-"

"Hey, who the hell are you talking to?"

Lloyd winced at the voice, turning as his teammates sulked in, all of them tired and looking very irritated to boot.

"Uh-" he trailed, going to slip the pendant of sorts back under his clothes.

"Let me see that!"

The lead boy grabbed his wrist, pulling his arm and the gem out and getting a yelp from Lloyd, who tried to pry back. His fingers closed over the gem protectively but the boy was larger than he was, and pried open his fingers.

"What's this? A necklace? What are you, some kind of fag?" the boy laughed, several of the others joining in with him.

Lloyd snarled and jerked his arm free, holding the stone close, glaring at them.

"It's none of your business!" he snapped.

"What?" the boy blinked, staring at him a bit before bursting out into laughter again. "Woah! You mean you ARE a fag-? Hey, don't' touch me then!"

"I meant about the necklace, and I didn't touch you! You're the one that-"

Lloyd nearly fell off the bench when the boy gave him a shove, knocking the brunette onto his side.

"Are you calling me a liar you spiky haired freak?"

He jerked and hunched his shoulders a bit, subconsciously attempting to make his hair less noticeable. Usually he wouldn't have let it get this long, long enough to start 'spiking' as they said, but he'd been so busy with practice and games lately, and his Dad had been so busy with work, he hadn't really been able to get it cut lately. The brown locks were unnatural, that's what they called them anyway, how they seemed to sweep together in 'spikes' all on their own; at first he'd gotten picked on because everyone thought he was some kind of punk or goth trying to make his hair look like that with copious amounts of hairgel; he had almost been relieved when they released it naturally did that.

Until they started calling him a freak instead.

"I didn't call you anything and I didn't touch you!" he snapped, feeling his face flush red with both anger and frustration.

"So you ARE calling me a liar?"

"Everyone saw it!" he snapped back, looking at the group of his teammates behind his aggressor. "Right?"

The group looked at him and exchanged glances, murmuring a bit to themselves.

Lloyd felt his heart sink in his chest as he watched, and it was only a few seconds, but in that time he felt as if his body was a balloon that had just been pierced, his chest falling, deflating. They had to help him, right? They all saw it, why would they say they didn't, right? They wouldn't all lie and pretend just because some bigger kid told them to, right? That was stupid- yeah, he was worrying about nothing, of course they wouldn't do that-

"You're making stuff up, liar!"

He flinched like he had been smacked.

"Wh- what-? No I'm not-!"

The big kid punched him across the face, knocking his head back into the lockers and a horrible pain shooting through the back of his head. He let out a cry and then felt a grip around his wrist again, trying to pry away his mother's memento. Half-dazed, he let out a shout and saw the chain snap-

He bit the boy's arm. Hard.

This time the attacker let out a yelp himself, Lloyd scrambling for the gem, holding it tightly in his hands as he drew back, scrambling off the bench onto his feet, backing up from him.

"Y- You BIT me-? You freak! What do you have rabies or something? I'll kill you!"

He took a step and Lloyd's eyes widened, his body frozen, and for a second…it almost felt like everything else had frozen in place too. Everything seemed still, cold, and then a faint warmth began to come from the gem he had clenched in his hand. He didn't even realize what had happened until he did it.

A couple steps forward, his hand raised up in a fist, slamming it up under his opponent's chin in a brutal uppercut, causing the bully to choke and stagger back, losing his balance and falling to the ground with a thud.

Lloyd stood there and breathed heavily, glaring down at the larger boy, the gem clenched in his fist still giving off a comforting warmth. After a second, he realized what had happened and jerked his head up, looking at the rest of the team, who gaped at the spectacle.

"W- what- how did you do that?"

"I…" he hesitated, staring down at the leader and then up at them.

He swallowed and took a step forward, trying to think of what to say.

They all scrambled backwards.

"H- Hey- why are you all-? He's the one that attacked me, why would I be going to hurt you? Why are you backing away from me-?" he shook his head but kept his eyes on them vaguely aware of his heart pounding.

"Freak!"

* * *

He choked, eyes closed as he had his hand over the gem, feeling the warmth coming from it once again, but this time, not just under his palm. The warmth spread from his hand up through his arm, into his whole body, it was comforting…yet…shouldn't he have been afraid of it? Back then, when that had happened, he should have been scared of it then, shouldn't he have? There was no way he could have knocked that big ape down like that back then. But he did, so what…

…He wasn't imagining it then?

This stone, the only thing he had left of his mother, this rock had something to do with how he had done that? How he had fought like that back in the temple? But how? What was it?

"That stone is called an exsphere, Lloyd," Kratos' voice came, "It is…complicated, but the basis is that when equipped as it is to you now, it will boost all your physical abilities and skills. When an exsphere is attached to someone like that it greatly increases strength, stamina…etcetera."

"So it's like a capacity core or materia" Lloyd muttered, but his father ignored him.

Lloyd's eyes opened and he stared at Kratos, then down at the exsphere, which glinted a bit in the light. He blinked, staring at it a moment before looking back up at his father, who had slipped something out of his pack.

"T- that's-" he choked.

"An exsphere," Kratos nodded, showing it to Lloyd, though briefly, "They are common in this world, I used this one for a long time before…I used this one for a long time. I did not think I would need it again but….given the circumstances, I will have to use it."

"S- so- a lot of people have these?" he stared, his eyes widening a bit. "This one was Mom's- wait…"

He stared at his father, putting together all the pieces as Kratos merely looked back at him, not saying anything, allowing his son to come to the conclusion on his own.

"…You…You and Mom were…from here, weren't you?" he whispered, stunned.

Kratos sighed, closing his eyes and nodding a bit, looking like a tired old man again.

"This is the world you were born in, Lloyd."

Silence.

He stared.

Kratos waited.

Lloyd gasped.

"Holy shit, I'm an alien."

**Sorry if that was a little on the depressing side :/ I wanted to get more into Lloyd's past, and there will be positive flashbacks too, so don't worry, but I did say he was bullied so…yeah -_-' and please, no one review this telling me the kids are all jerks for 'no reason'. They didn't have a reason for being mean to me either, so I probably have difficulty seeing how to make it 'more real' if that's the reality I've seen. Life's confusingly nonsensical like that….**

**On a positive note, twelve days till Christmas :D Yaaaaaaaaaaay! n.n I want a cookie .**

**Merry Christmas! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Next chapter, finally got some time to write. Only the second month and college is knocking me into the mud and stomping my head into it while singing High School Musical.**

**The horror.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Lloyd slammed his hands over his ears, attempting to drown out anything his father was trying to tell him. Not that he was telling him much aside form trying to tell him to calm down, and futile, half-hearted attempts to explain to him the situation.

No. No this wasn't happening. How could this be happening-?

"Lloyd-" his father put his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted, backing up, glaring at his father with his teeth clenched. "You- you expect me to just-? You LIED to me! You've ALWAYS been lying to me! You never told me anything- how- how the hell is this possible? How could we be from here? I don't remember this place- I would have-"

"You were only three when we went there, Lloyd," he said softly, his eyes misted slightly as he looked at his son, "I'd be surprised if you remembered anything-"

"Shut up! You lied to- you told me mom died in a car crash! You expect me to just- accept all of a sudden that she never even HEARD of a car?" he snapped, glaring at him as angry tears began to form, which his stubbornly fought. "How is this even possible? How did we get here? How did we get- THERE if we're from here? Why-?"

"We left when your mother died," Kratos said softly, his eyes strangely blank, "You've seen for yourself how dangerous this world is. …Yuan, the one you saw me speaking with, is the one that let us go to Earth. However, recently he…has decided he requires my assistance."

"Wh-? Assistance-? How the hell-?"

"I can only assume when I refused to return, he brought you here so that I would follow," the man frowned, his brow furrowed slightly, "…I suppose he got what he wanted."

"Wh- but- you mean that weird machine thing you had?" he asked, remembering the object his father had tried to use was the same as the one that this 'Yuan' had used to bring him here. "Then why didn't you just use-?"

"I attempted to, however it appears Yuan has cut it off from the system used to power it," Kratos stated, "As such we're stuck here, at least until I can confront Yuan…"

Lloyd stared at him a moment and then groaned, rubbing his face, his body shaking slightly. None of this was possible; this had to be a dream right? Maybe he'd gotten a concussion during the game and he was in the hospital right now, hyped up on morphine or something else that was making him hallucinate. How could this be…it had to be. It wasn't a joke, after all, the world would end before his father made a joke. Besides, it couldn't be a joke, he had seen it all himself. The armored men, the strange chapel, the monsters, the magic, the…'angel'….if he wasn't hallucinating or dreaming, there was no way this could be some sort of elaborate ruse.

"I realize you're upset with me, and you have every right," Kratos' voice came softly, tentatively, "However they will come looking for us shortly, I can not explain much more until later-"

He cut off in mid-word, looking to the edge of the house. Lloyd noticed and looked as well, blinking, trying to figure out what it was he was looking at-

"Uhm, excuse me, Mr. Kratos? Lloyd?" the blonde Chosen stuck her head around the corner. "Professor Sage and my grandmother were wondering if you were almost done?"

Lloyd almost went to speak, though granted he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say. It didn't matter much, seeing as his father had cut him off again.

"Yes, we are, Chosen," he nodded, walking past Lloyd and to go into the house, "Come along Lloyd."

"C- Come along-? Dad-!"

Kratos didn't say anything. No, he barely moved, all he did was look at Lloyd. That was it; a look, a look that paralyzed Lloyd in mid-breath. He swallowed and then shook his head, looking away.

"Yeah, Colette, we're done," he said quietly.

He still didn't understand this. He still didn't understand any of this…all right, if this was real- he could buy it was a different world, and he even believed what his father said about being from here. After what he had overheard, it made sense, and…it just…made sense. It made sense he was ridiculed and avoided, what better reason could there be for not fitting in than not being from that planet? The thought was bitter and he sighed lightly, his face falling. No, he was just making excuses for himself, wasn't he? It didn't matter if he was from- somewhere else, right? They treated him like that because of…he himself. He clenched his teeth and then brushed the thought away. It wouldn't help anything; moping and feeling bad for himself wasn't going to help anything either. He had to wrap his mind around this; he had to deal with the situation at hand, right? They couldn't go home-

….Wait.

Wasn't this what he wanted?

Well okay, finding out everything he knew was a lie, he was an alien and ending up on another planet wasn't exactly what he wanted, but the not going 'home' part? That was exactly what he wanted. He had been sick of it all, tired of the secrets, tired of living day to day with that loneliness, tired of being out of place.

And now here he was. Someplace new, someplace fresh, someplace with people he didn't know and didn't know him, someplace where… The thought came to him and he almost discarded it, but found himself thinking of it again. He had always felt he didn't belong, and now with all this, it meant…could that mean…he belonged here? Okay, well, he knew that simply being born somewhere didn't mean you belonged there, right? Still…this all seemed so unreal. Then again, maybe that was something he wanted to. He was sick of reality- his, reality….anyway. Sick of being alone and in a rut. Okay so this place looked like a third world country and it was obviously dangerous, but…but that meant- that meant he could do something here, didn't it? It meant he'd be able to be useful in the only way he was useful. Back home, no one wanted his help. Needed, sure, there were many a dweeb he'd saved from being locked in a closet, but even then, they always ended up in the same situation, and avoiding him even. He was useless; he could beat people up, so what? What good was that? Beating people up got you in jail. But here….he'd helped Colette and her friend, hadn't he? Yeah…yeah he had. Even if it was something as absurd as beating up giant spiders, he had done something useful, he was needed…

Needed! Appreciated even! She had said thank you! He'd been so wrapped up in his shock and anxiety he'd almost forgotten! Wow….

Maybe- maybe this was a good thing. Wasn't it? After all, he'd gotten his father to tell him more in the last five minutes then he had ever told him the majority of his life, and- and…

He could learn more about his mother….

A bubble of excitement welled up inside of him and the best he could do to suppress his oncoming grin was a smirk. He was going to get his answers, all of them, it was only a matter of time. His father would have to tell him everything, so he wouldn't cause a scene. And apparently the gems- exspheres- were common here too…that was…normal. In fact, maybe he could be 'normal' here too- …okay well any chance of that was dashed the second he fell out of the sky wearing jeans and a jacket, but…

Well, it was better than taking the garbage out.

* * *

He had to jog to keep up with his father's steps, looking up at the tall figure that held his hand as he leaded him through the bustling lobby. He had to hold his hand and keep close, because it was easy to get lost. Today was a special day, it was his birthday, so they were going to go somewhere, Daddy said. He was five today, and he was going to start kindergarten in a couple weeks. It sounded exciting, daycare had gotten pretty boring after a while, though he did like watching cartoons. They didn't have a TV, his dad said it was a 'waste of time', which made him kinda sad, though it didn't stop him from going around the house singing the 'Duck Tales' theme song (regardless of how it drove his father to the brink of his sanity).

Anyway, today was his birthday, as such, his daddy had told them he was going to do something special for him. They had gone to a big building with a lot of people and lots of pictures on the walls, and candy and other good smelling stuff was being sold behind a counter. It was called a 'movie theater', it was his first time ever going to one.

"Can we get popcorn?" he asked with a grin, looking up at his father, who merely nodded.

"Yes, but only a little, you'll get sick if you eat too much," he had said, his russet eyes scanning the area as they took their place in line.

"I like movies," he grinned again, bouncing on his feet, "Stacy let us watch Care Bears."

The girl that worked at the daycare center had a lot of movie she'd show them right before naptime, Care Bears, Toy Story, The Land Before Time, and a bunch of other ones he didn't always remember the names of. He liked them all, especially the ones with bright colors and strange places, places that fed his already 'overactive imagination' as he had been told. Of course, how could he not be entranced by them, though, when it was a window to an entirely different world? Someplace new and exciting! Something he never got to see at home, where there really wasn't much to do, since Daddy wouldn't play with him….so he'd imagine up his own places, acting out things with his toys.

Oh well, today was special, his Daddy wasn't only going to let him watch a movie, he was going to watch WITH him! What more could he ask for?

"I know you do," Kratos said softly, a weak smile coming to his lips as he looked down at his toddler son, "…Every once and a while is okay, I suppose…it is your birthday after all."

"Uh-huh! I'm five!" he grinned, holding up his free hand to his father to demonstrate five with his fingers, "See? I can count."

He smirked a bit and ruffled his sons' hair, then looking back up as they moved up in line.

"Daddy, what movie we gonna see?"

"A cartoon," he said, not looking down at him, "That is what you like, is it not?"

"Uh-huh," he grinned, nodding his head up and down, "What cartoon?"

"It's called 'Hercules' apparently," he stated, and from his tone, anyone could tell he was completely unenthusiastic about the endevour.

Of course, anyone except his excited little son.

"Oooh ohh!" he bounced up and down, ecstatic. "I saw a c'mmercial for that, it's Disney."

"Commercial," his father corrected, glancing down at him again, "And yes, I believe it is."

He had loved it. The brunette boy had been ecstatic, and wouldn't stop talking about the movie they had seen, leaving his father to crack a small smile, baring his annoyance in order to enjoy his son's happiness. Like any child would, he would often go around proclaiming himself to be the hero, fighting imaginary monsters and living out his fantastical adventures.

So it was no surprise that one the movie came out, on the bulky old VHS tape, that Kratos conceded and finally purchased their first television, along with a VCR and a copy of the tape. He nearly regretted it within the next week, as his son seemed to watch that movie at least three times a day. Lloyd sit and watch with rapt attention, his brown eyes wide and starry as he watched the animated images flash across the screen. It wasn't until one day did this really begin to concern his father; when Lloyd had attempted to lift the sofa, exclaiming that he was 'a hero too'.

Kratos watched with his head tilted in mild amusement, watching as his son strained and struggled to no avail with his little arms. A weak smile cracked his face and he shook his head, walking over to Lloyd so that he could tell him to stop.

Then it happened.

Lloyd lifted the sofa a good ten inches off the floor.

Kratos choked, his eyes widening as his own son gasped, surprised at his own feat. His father quickly pulled Lloyd away, the sofa setting back to the ground with a thud. Lloyd stared at it, his father staring as well, his arms tightly around his son, shaking slightly.

However Lloyd's shock wore off relatively quickly.

"I did it! Daddy I did it, I'm str-"

Kratos set him down quickly, looking at him as his face paled, an expression of quiet horror etching into his face. Noticing his father's face, his own fell, frowning a bit.

"Daddy?"

He said nothing for a moment, then looked at the sofa, then back at his son.

"…Do that again Lloyd," he said quietly.

"Huh?" Lloyd blinked.

"Do it again," he said.

Lloyd blinked and frowned a bit, wondering what it was his father was upset about. Regardless, he turned to the sofa and tried to lift it again, how he had before-

And nothing happened.

A little pout came onto his face and he tried again, struggling and grunting, but he couldn't even budge it. Kratos'd body relaxed, though his expression didn't, eying his son. Had it just been a fluke? A freak occurrence? He had no other explanation- …aside from the obvious one; but it wasn't happening again…so that must mean for now at least he had nothing to worry about. Still, he would have to keep a close eye on his child…

Lloyd didn't understand it.

His father had told him that he was too small, wasn't strong enough to do what he had done, or what he thought he had done, as he told him. Too little, too weak, too small, there was no way he could do that.

But he had, hadn't he? He remembered, he remembered lifting it up. Was that really just his imagination? He kept trying, when his father wasn't around, kept trying to lift it up again, but nothing would happen.

As he grew older he began to doubt it had happened at all, began to believe what his father had said, about it just being his imagination; the imagination of a little kid. It made more sense the older he became, the more he became convinced that it had never happened at all. Regardless, despite how he began to (to Kratos' relief) stop watching that aging movie, it still remained his favorite. He'd daydream to himself about heroic adventures, from that and from the various other stories and games he had come to see throughout the years.

Fifth grade, fifth grade when he should have been in sixth, sitting by the window, looking out into the open as his teacher talked and talked and talked; wondering if the clouds coming in would mean rain. Rain'd be nice, actually, he thought to himself. It'd been way too hot lately as it was, and it never seemed to rain enough, in his opinion. Sure he liked sunny days too, but the rainy ones were just as nice in their own way. Besides, on rainy days they had indoor recess, where they got to stay inside and play boardgames… Of course, he would always prefer to go run around outside, but…

At least during indoor recess, people had to be around him.

He got his wish, as rain began to fall during the time they would normally have recess. Suppressing a grin he bounced over to the case where they kept the board-games, watching for someone to pull out a game he wanted to play. Then he'd ask if he could play too; they'd let him, right? Most of the time they let him, because they needed another player, so they would let him today right? Well…usually. Today when he asked a group, mustering up his courage, they told him no, saying that they had enough people already, that there wasn't room for him. He said he understood; said it was okay, but still was pretty sure that they were short one person…

After that he didn't ask anyone else. He should have, he knew, he should have seen if someone else would let him play with them, but after being told no, he couldn't find him in it to do so. Instead he went back to his chair, looking out the window, propping his head up in his hands, looking out into the rain. He looked back at the group he had asked, seeing they had started to play and they did have one spot open. He blinked and went to say something, cutting off when another kid walked over and asked if he could play.

They let him.

Lloyd stared a bit, feeling his mouth open slightly. They…let that kid play but not him; they told him they didn't have any room and then they just-

Was he really so surprised?

No. He wasn't, this wasn't the first time this had happened to him. Gritting his teeth he looked away and stared back into the rain, ignoring the sting coming to his eyes.

Why? What was wrong with him? Why did they like other people more than him? Why would they play with other people and be nice to them but they wouldn't let him? What was wrong with him? What had he done? Why- why-

He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, his hands gripping into his arms as he crossed them over his chest.

It was a horrible feeling, simple as it was. The simple feelings of rejection, of loneliness; somehow hurt more than words could really describe; to think that people didn't like him hurt, it hurt to think of even one person, but if it had just been one person, he could have handled it..but…everyone? Why everyone? Why…why didn't he fit here?

He frowned and opened his eyes, looking out into the rain, his eyes misted. Was this how Hercules felt, he wondered, finding his thoughts going back to the favorite thing of his younger years. When everyone rejected him, when the guys with the Frisbee wouldn't let him play with them, when they lied to him and called him a freak just because he was…'weird'? He had heard that word a lot too; 'weird'. Weird meant…he didn't belong, right? Not belonging or fitting in meant you were weird; but Hercules was 'weird' because he didn't belong there anyway, he was from somewhere else-

Wait, could that be it?

Could it be he was supposed to be from somewhere else? Was it somewhere he could go? Was there someplace, somewhere, where he could go and he could belong and fit in? Where he wouldn't be 'weird', where people would be nice to him- even like him?

He was distracted the rest of the day, the thought bothering him, and when he got him, his Dad wasn't back from work yet. Looking around the empty apartment he bit his lip, then walked into the living room, dropping his backpack on the sofa. He shuffled through the small collection of movies he had, pulling out the one he sought, frowning as he scanned the cover which was beginning to get a thin film of dust. Was twelve too old for this? He was going to be a teenager soon, wasn't he? Still, it's not like anyone would know if he did watch it.

So watch it he did, as the rain poured harder outside he watched the beginning of the movie, his frown deepening as he saw the scene that he had recalled earlier that day. All he did was ask to play Frisbee with the guys and they had lied to him, called him names, laughed at him, and when he tried to help and things went wrong, everyone blamed him, everyone called him a freak….it was a little too..close. He nearly considered turning it off, when the scene shifted to the 'hero' and his father.

"I try to fit in, I really do, I just…can't."

His finger stopped a centimeter from the off button.

"Sometimes I feel…like I don't really belong here, like I'm supposed to be…someplace else."

"Son…"

"I know it doesn't make any sense."

He drew back, watching as the hero walked off on his own, and the background music of a familiar song met his ears. Lloyd sat again, watching as the teenager on screen looked off into the horizon and began to sing, sing about a far off place that he dreamed off, where he would be welcomed, where he'd be 'where he's meant to be'.

"_I know every mile, will be worth my while, I would go most anywhere to feel like I belong," _

Was there somewhere he could go too? He would do the same, he told himself, he would go as far as he needed to go, overcome anything he needed to do, do anything and go anywhere to find where he would belong; but did that place exist for him?

Well…it might, right? It was worth trying then…

* * *

He shook his head, frowning a bit to himself. What had brought that on? He had more important things to think about right now.

"So these are the ones that assisted the Chosen?"

The man speaking was a fat, ugly old man, and Lloyd briefly wondered who this guy was, hoping it wasn't Colette's grandfather or something, he'd feel bad about thinking that if he was…

"Yes, Mayor," her grandmother nodded, "I witnessed it myself."

"The younger one is dressed strange," he said, his eyes narrowed.

"Hmph, not the only thing strange…" Raine muttered, glancing over at him and his father.

Lloyd anxiously looked between them, biting his lip. What was he supposed to say? Given by the look his father was giving him: nothing. He frowned as his father stepped forward and began weaving the same lies he had told Raine, leaving Lloyd to eye him from the back, wondering what function a swallow-tailed cape could possibly serve. His eyes glanced around nervously, taking in the room, the people, the blonde man he assumed was Colette's father, Raine and Genis to the side, eyeing them warily, and Colette herself, sitting at the table, her hands folded in her lap, her wide blue eyes glancing at him. Her eyes were huge, he thought, so were Genis', was that normal here? Well…hers looked cute on her, anyway…

Maybe he could spend more time with her.

**Wrote this because had class off today! :D Still have so much studying and reading to do oh wells, got to have some fun first at least.**

**Hope you enjoy**


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay well I finally got this updated. I'm sorry it took so long, I had writers block and restarted this chapter like a million times. Then when I finally got something down my usb broke and I lost it -_- sorry about that but I hope you enjoy it at least.**

…**God it's been so long since I updated this -_-**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

It was the kind of thing everyone wished for, when they were kids, right? Some sort of fantastical adventure in a totally different world, at least, that's how he had been. His father had always been …cynical to his liking to videogames and the like, but it was totally justifiable, he thought. Things like that were always some kind of window into another world, something new, foreign, exciting things to explode and discover. Books could be like that, he was sure, but he just got bored of them so quickly. He didn't like having things told to him, he didn't like the feeling that someone was simply telling him what some world or creature looked like, he'd much rather find and see it himself.

Still, he knew this wasn't going to be like that. He was smart enough to know that in reality, once you knew something was real the fantasy was gone. This world was a fantasy to him, but he knew better than that. There had been dead men, priests, littered around the temple. Death happened on any world, he guessed…as long as there were people, people would fight. He wasn't naïve enough to not know that…this wasn't a fantasy, real people had died real deaths. All logic told him that this was in fact, very dangerous…he didn't know this world, didn't know the weird writing on the signs, didn't know how things worked. If he had really been alone here, he would have been afraid. Still, while he knew that he would be afraid he knew still that he wouldn't be able to suppress the excitement bubbling within him.

Besides, his dad was here and he knew this world, so he was sure it'd all work out. Why not enjoy it while he was here then? Why not do something, be worth something? Heh…that sounded kinda pathetic, didn't it? It didn't matter much, he supposed. There was nothing he could do about it so he might as well just stick around and see what he could see.

Then why was he sitting outside waiting for his dad to finish talking?

The teen sighed deeply, rubbing his face and trying to ignore the stares he was getting from the villagers. He did stand out, he supposed, considering how he was dressed in what had to be a medieval-like era. Besides, he had other problems…namely the silver-haired kid that was eying him.

"….Look if you're going to say something to me, say it," he said, looking over at the boy.

"Where are you from?" Genis asked.

"Dad told you already-"

"Yeah, and I don't believe you, where are you really from?" Genis huffed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Okay, well where do you think I'm from then?" Lloyd sighed. "Well? If you don't believe I'm from some far-off place where do you think I'm from?"

There was a moment of silence where Genis frowned, scanning him, but Lloyd remained calm. Yeah, that's what he had thought. The kid might have been skeptical of him but it's not like he had any other answer-

"Hey! You just thought of me as a 'little kid' didn't you?" Genis snapped.

Lloyd nearly jumped, staring down at the boy.

"W- what-?"

"Yeah you did, I can see it all over your face." The boy huffed, putting his hands on his hips. "Look, just because I'm young doesn't mean I'm any less intelligent than you, got it? Age doesn't make you mature."

Lloyd stared.

"…W-what? What are you looking at- "

"You're pretty insecure aren't you?"

Genis knocked him up the head with his kendama.

"Ow-! Wh-what the hell-?" Lloyd gasped, rubbing his head.

"You jerk you think you can say that kind of thing-? Who do you think you are, huh?" the boy snapped.

"Hey, I just call them as I see them!" Lloyd snapped back, glaring down at the boy. "Besides, if you react like that when someone tells you that it just makes them believe it's true! If you always react violently they just think they're right!"

Genis began to say something but then stopped, scanning Lloyd again as if seeing him in a new light. The half-elf looked wary, and Lloyd wondered if he had truly warranted such a reaction. After all, he was new to this world, maybe he had done something really wrong?

Lloyd frowned, scanning the boy back when something came to him. The kid's scrappy attitude, his quick-temper, the way he had jealously guarded his friend- …of course. It all made sense..

"You…and don't get mad at me I'm just asking…" Lloyd frowned. "You get…bullied, don't you?"

"No I don't!" Genis snapped, crossing his arms and looking away.

There was a moment of silence.

"…They ignore me," he said softly.

Lloyd flinched. That expression was one he was sure he had worn on his own face countless times, countless times of sitting alone, being snubbed, ignored… yes, he knew that face. He knew it too well.

"Hey…" Lloyd frowned, lowering his hand from his head. "Look- maybe we got off on the wrong foot, okay? I mean, I know it was really weird with how I uh- showed up here, and trust me I'd explain it if I knew what happened myself. I know I'm pretty weird and stuff but…I'd like to start over if you will."

Genis blinked, scanning him, but remained silent.

"I mean, I understand if you don't want to …be friends with me or something, trust me you wouldn't be the first person to-"

"Friends?" the half-elf cut him off, staring at him.

"Uh…yeah." He nodded, then frowned again. "Yeah, I know you probably wouldn't want to be friends with someone like me but-"

"You'd want to be my friend?" Genis asked again, a trace of bewilderment in his expression.

"Uh- ..well…yeah," Lloyd said. "I mean…everyone wants to have a friend, right?"

Genis continued to stare at him and Lloyd wondered again if he had done something wrong-

"But I'm an elf, you'd still want to be friends with me?"

"Sure," Lloyd said and then grinned sheepishly. "I mean, that'd be pretty cool anyway, you know? I've never met any elves before, that's pretty neat."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"…Well, I'm weird too, that's what everyone says anyway," Genis said with a little shrug. "So…I mean, I guess I can- …I don't mind you being weird."

"Well I can definitely understand why you'd be freaked out by me." The teen rubbed the back of his neck. "But trust me I really don't know how it happened…I'm pretty lost too. Dad knows but- …"

"Well I'm sure the truth will come out eventually, and you at least seem harmless enough," the boy said with a slight smirk. "I guess I can tolerate you no matter how enigmatic you are."

Lloyd was the one to stare this time.

"…What?'

"Wow, you really are smart!" he laughed. "You use really big words..I don't even know what that means!"

Genis regarded the older boy with a mixture of skepticism and an urge to shake his head in pity. However he was spared from having to decide how to react to that when he remembered something more important.

"Yeah well, I got someplace to go," he explained to Lloyd. "So…uhm, it was nice meeting you I guess."

"Can I come?" Lloyd asked, looking back to the door with a frown. "I don't think they're going to be done talking anytime soon and I…don't like the idea of sitting out here where everyone will start staring at me."

The half-elf considered a moment but couldn't ignore the nagging sense of apprehension.

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked after a moment.

"N- Nothing, are you sure it's okay with your dad? I'm going to go outside the village- not too far but-"

"It's fine," Lloyd replied a little hastier than he meant to, his eyes narrowing a bit.

He wasn't quite concerned with his father's opinion at the moment, in all reality. The man had lied to him about everything, so he thought that he deserved a bit of freedom to piss him off. It was only fair, after all.

"So where are we going?" he asked Genis.

"Uh…well- …we have to go through the forest-..there's monsters in there-"

"More spiders?" Lloyd winced a bit at the thought. "Or blobby things?"

"..Blobby things?" Genis bilnked.

"Y'know, blobs, ..jellies, chu-chus, living boogers, I have no idea what they're called, okay? You know what I'm talking about though don't you? Those things we saw in the temple!"

"Oh, those." Genis shook his head. "No, none of those are in the woods. There are different kinds-"

"Let me guess, evil bunnies? Wolves? Boxing flowers? Dancing mushrooms?" Lloyd rolled his eyes, recalling the usual 'newbie monsters' from his gaming experience.

…Granted he didn't expect himself to be RIGHT…

"Seriously, seriously?" Lloyd scowled a few minutes later, flicking the blood off the blade he stole. "A mushroom. Great, next I'm going to be seeing some overweight plumber running through here. Wouldn't that be just great? As if this day wasn't weird enough…"

"Uh, Lloyd, they're called minicoids…" Genis said hesitantly.

"Whatever, seriously, a rabbit? Are they rabid? Geeze I might as well just turn around and-"

"Lloyd! Look out!"

He whipped around before he could think, spotting the giant bee zooming for his face with stinger at the ready. A single thought crossed his mind- well actually two. One, he never thought he'd see a beedrill in person, and two, he would definitely NOT like a stinger in the face.

The third 'thought' wasn't really a thought at all, more an action. Like in the temple, suddenly some strange energy filled him and his body acted, as did his voice.

"Sonic Thrust!"

The bee gave a strange shriek he would have figured belonged to a bird, the sword piercing through its body. Lloyd yanked the sword out, the bee writing on the ground before laying still.

"Wow- that was a close one." Genis chuckled weakly, rubbing the back of his head. "That was-"

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Lloyd groaned, rubbing his face.

"Huh? What was-"

"That." Lloyd gestured to the bee. "It was like- you know in the temple? When I did that..sword force, thingie?"

"Demon fang?"

"Yeah…" Lloyd frowned. "I have no idea how I did that, I just…did it. Didn't even think about it first, it just came to me- ..though I guess I know where the name came from."

Yeah that was probably just some part of his mind picking names from the Tales games. Whatever that sword force thingie was, it DID look an awful lot like 'Demon Fang' – and…'sonic thrust'…yeah, that was a move too.

That lead to another question of course. How the hell were there similarities like this place to a videogame? Apple gels, seriously? Then again there was no mention of 'fonons' or 'eres' yet..mana sure, but tons of fantasy things use the 'mana' thing. So really it was just the moves which he was doing and the gels that were- oh, and gald, that too. …Okay three things, that was enough to be weirded out he guessed. That was all right…he'd talk to his dear old dad about it later.

"Lloyd? You still there?"

"Wh- yeah," he shook off his thoughts. "Yeah just..been a long day."

"Well we're almost there, so…just hang in there."

"Okay…"

So today he had fought spiders, blobs, bunnies, goombas and beedrills. Great, wasn't that just how he had planned his day. This was starting to feel like a really weird kiddy dream.

That was until they made it to the ranch.

Aside from the attack earlier at the temple, Lloyd hadn't really seen anything in this world that seemed …that bad. He didn't see what it was that his father had tried to leave from, so badly that he'd go to an entirely different planet.

Then there was the ranch.

People in rags slaved away, whips stinging their back from their armored captors, the smell of burning waste and decay exuded from the place, along with blood, fresh and not. For a moment he wondered if it was some kind of prison, then realized that couldn't be the case. But then what…

"You…you don't know what this is do you?" Genis asked softly, eyeing him before his face fell. "It's a human ranch. Those guys that attacked us earlier? The Desians? This is one of their..bases."

Ranch. Human Ranch- what? That didn't-

"Ranch?" Lloyd said quietly, frowning deeply. "Ranch, like …cattle? Human cattle? What the hell…"

"One of the captives is my friend," Genis said quietly, shuffling his feet. "I-I want to tell her about the oracle, I think it would…lift her spirits."

The teen's brown eyes scanned the place and then settled on Genis, silence descending over the pair. That is, it would have been silent, aside from the sounds of whips, cries of pain and jeers of some tormentor delighting in his work.

"…Y- You don't have to go with me if you don't want to, I know it's scary-"

"No, I can't let you go alone," Lloyd said, looking forward again. "…You lead the way, I'll make sure no one spots us from behind."

Genis seemed a little wary of his friend's sudden shift in mood but nodded, continuing on. They managed to sneak about the ranch walls and Lloyd struggled to ignore the sounds. This- this was- sick. How could someone do something like this? There were children in there, elderly, young old, all sick and weak- this was-

This was a Holocaust.

That's what it was, that's exactly what it was. They were locking people up like this- that was it then. This had to be what his father had tried to escape from, what he'd tried to get him away from- but then, that guy with the blue hair- why did he bring them back? What could he have to gain from this?

Another cry met his ears and he slammed his eyes shut. Dammit he couldn't- he couldn't let this happen- but then what? What could he do? He couldn't just storm in there and save everyone, he was just one guy…

A feeling of helplessness settled over him, freezing into his gut. There was nothing he could do…he was useless, he couldn't do anything- wait.

…Maybe he could.

He heard them, he heard them say if Colette completed the journey, these- 'Desians' would disappear. Was that true? Could they really get rid of them, could they stop this? If it was..

"Marble!"

He looked up, noticing the old woman who had snuck to them on the far side of the fence. The old woman scanned him a moment, doubtless weirded out by his clothing, but her eyes settled on Genis with a weak smile.

Genis introduced the old woman as Marble, and he in turn introduced himself. The old woman was thin, sickly, it was hard not to grimace for her. Still, when she mentioned the journey his ears focused on her words instantly instead of her appearance.

"Will the Desians really disappear if the journey is completed?" he asked.

The woman stared at him and Lloyd had the feeling he had said something incredibly stupid.

"H- He's not from around here- and he hit his head," Genis pointed to his own. "So he's a little..weird right now."

"Ah…I see, poor child," Marble frowned. "Yes, Lloyd, if the Chosen completes her journey the Desians will be sealed away, and we will be at peace."

Well it sound like it was worth a shot-

Then he noticed it, the gem on her hand. His eyes widened a bit, scanning it and then the one that rested on his own. Exsphere, that's what his father had said it was , a gem that enhanced someone's fighting prowess. That was at least a bit that he hadn't tuned out when Kratos had attempted to explain to him, though…something was wrong with Marble's. It was gray, and …it looked like it had roots, burrowing into her skin. Oh wait, he said something about this too…that mount he had, that he couldn't remove that, that it'd be very bad if he removed the mount and left the exsphere on- wiat that was it! Marble didn't have a mount!

"That's…that's an exsphere isn't it?" he asked, scanning the woman's hand.

"Oh, is that what this is called?" the woman frowned, scanning it. "They placed it on me shortly after I came here."

"Yeah..my dad said that's what they are- …but-.."

He lifted his own hand again, scanning his exsphere and comparing it to hers.

"You don't have a mount," he said. "This thing, here? It needs to be on the exsphere or it'll- I'm not sure what exactly, but it's nothing good."

"Wh- what? Well- can't we just get her a mount though?" Genis asked, panicked.

"I- I don't know where to get them, but I can ask my dad and see if we can get one for her."

"You're very kind." Marble smiled gently. "But don't trouble yourselves-"

"Hey! What are you doing over there you old hag!"

Anger seized him suddenly, his fists clenched at his sides. Those bastards…damn Nazis, how could they-?

"Lloyd, we have to go! If they find us here they'll beat her, and they'll kill us!"

Lloyd flinched, glancing down at his new friend and the old woman, both of which pleaded that they run, quickly. The teen hesitated just a moment before he nodded.

"O- Okay, we'll be back Marble, okay?"

They rushed to a hiding place, though for some reason neither of them found the will to run, instead climbed up the cliff face, watching as they pulled the old woman away. Lloyd choked, eyes wide as he watched the Desians beat the old woman, flaying her and laughing all the while.

"Sh- She's going to die-" Genis choked.

Lloyd's fists clenched.

No. He couldn't just watch this, couldn't just watch someone- no. If he couldn't help them all, he'd at least help one.

"Genis, can you attack them from here with magic?"

The half elf stared at him.

"W- what-?"

"Can you attack them from here with magic? If you can, I can act as a decoy and lead them away while you run home."

"W- what? What about you though? You- and we can't! If they see us they'll attack the village-"

Damn, that hadn't occurred to him- oh…wait…

"Please, they won't think I'm from the village, I'm not after all." He smiled weakly back at him. "Everyone is weirded out by my clothes, they'll think I'm so weird crazy guy that lives in the woods. They'll chase me and you can get home, I'll lose them in the woods and then follow the trail back."

"But-"

"Genis, we don't have time, we need to do this now." Lloyd frowned, eyes sweeping to the crying woman.

Genis winced.

"I- okay."

A twisting feeling in his gut told him this probably wouldn't be the smartest thing he'd ever done; still what was he supposed to do?

"Okay….ready?" Lloyd asked, bracing himself for his dash.

"Yeah…" Genis nodded, looking a little pale.

"All right…go!"

Genis cast fireball, hitting one of the guards and dropping him , screaming onto the ground as his body lit up in flames. Lloyd stubbornly ignored the cries, racing across the gate top. It was then he realized how stupid his plan was, he couldn't jump down from here without hurting himself, and couldn't find time to climb down-

Luckily for him, he tripped, and discovered quite quickly that yes, in fact he COULD jump down from there. His eyes widened as he landed easily on the ground, but had little time to ponder his new reflexes as the Desians chased after him.

So he charged into the woods, hoping to circle back to the path, but then realized another great flaw in his plan. He didn't know these woods, and in his panic to escape his pursuers had gotten himself hopelessly lost. Not only that, but it was getting later, and the thick trees were blocking a lot of the afternoon sun. So it was he didn't realize the root his foot snagged on, sending him spiraling down a small hill and into a cold river.

So then it came to the THIRD big flaw in his hasty plan.

He was never really a swimmer.

This was a very, very trying day.

**Yaaaaaayy update 8D and I actually have next chapter planned a bit too! Hooray! Now if you 'll excuse me I'm tired (plops onto computers and falls asleep)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yaaaaaay an update….so tired, lol**

**Sorry it took so long :/ I was having so many problems with this chap…meh**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

He groaned tossing onto his other side, stuffing his face in his pillow. What…happened? His mind scampered to collect his thoughts, trying to recall- well that couldn't be right. He frowned, his eyes still shut. He must've been dreaming, because those 'memories' didn't make any damn sense at all. When did he hit his head? It was pounding after all, so maybe he just like…hallucinated all of that…

He stretched- or at least, he tried to.

"Agh-!" he jolted upright, finding he had had his knees bent, curled up on the bed...and that because of that he just barely fit.

The bed was far too short.

"Wh-?"

"Ah, Ah see yer up, laddie?"

Lloyd whipped his head around, staring at the short, stout man that had entered into the small- very small, seeing as his head was brushing the ceiling- room.

"Wh- who-?"

"Found ya washed up down the river," the short man said, crossing his thick arms over his torso. "Well that's not quite right, Noishe found ya."

"Noishe-?"

The poor teen barely got to register the blur of white and green that sped through the doorway that tackled him back down onto the bed, licking him violently.

"Ah-! What the-! Get it off-!"

He instinctively grabbed at it, his fingers catching handfuls of thick fur. A loud whimper escaped the 'attacker' and Lloyd blinked, looking up at the creature. A dog-? No…no wait, way too big, and- ..green, and-…what the hell were with its ears?

"Noishe!" the man snapped, pulling the creature off him. ""Leave the lad ta get his breath first!"

Lloyd sat up again, staring at the large wolf-like creature that sat there whimpering like a kicked puppy. Its eyes swept to his own brown ones, the tail wagging rapidly.

"N…oishe…wh- what is that thing?" Lloyd stared, unable to shake the strange feeling he'd seen the animal before.

But where the hell would he have seen something like that? Its ears were the size of jetplanes!

"Sorry abou' that, lad," the short man said with a grin. "Usually 'e's not that friendly ta strangers. Guess 'e likes ya."

"I…where am I?" Lloyd frowned, looking around.

"Yer at my house 'o course, near Iselia. I found yeah half-drowned in the river, not the best place fer a feller to be laying, y'know." The man grinned. "Name's Dirk, sonny, what's yers?"

"Er, Lloyd," he said.

He scanned the room; everything in it was smaller-well not 'smaller', more like stouter. Everything was built for a shorter but wider person, which made sense, if this man lived on his own.

"Lloyd, eh? Well yah best be gettin' some rest if yer still not feelin' right, had quite a brush with death ya did," Dirk said, scanning the boy. "Are ya from the village? Ya don' seem like it."

"Well I'm not, but is it that obvious?" Lloyd frowned, looking at him. "Er-nevermind dumb question."

Dirk chuckled, a grin splitting his hairy face.

"Ya needn't be so uncomfortable, boy, don' matter to me where yer from. Ya need help, so I help ya. Dwarven vow #2, never abandon someone in need. Now then, I got some stew cookin', bet yer hungry, right lad? I'll get ya some."

"I- thanks." Lloyd nodded, a little surprised at the hospitality, but grateful. "I should go though. My dad's going to be worried about me."

"Nonsense, there's no sense'n goin' through the woods a' night, yer either gonna git lost or git eaten, especi'ly if yer not from around here. Ah'll take ya back to the village first thing in the mornin'. Until then ya just git some rest, nip in the bud any cold ya might've gotten from near drownin' yerself."

"I- Night? It's already night?" he jerked, quickly trying to locate a window.

"Aye, it is lad, now calm yerself before ya give yerself a headache," he said.

Lloyd barely looked at the dwarf before the large 'dog' tackled him again, licking his face furiously.

"Noishe! Bad dog! Dammit Ah dunno what's wrong with him-"

"It's- it's okay- geez! DOWN!" Lloyd snapped, pushing the large animal back with a frown. "He sure seems to like me for some reason…"

The canine whimpered, sitting with his ears down as Dirk lectured him. Lloyd couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about the oddly intelligent- almost familiar, look in the dark eyes. It made him fidget, trying to place where he had seen something like it.

"Like ah was sayin'," Dirk spoke up. "Ya just rest for a bit an Ah'll give a holler when the food's done. After that we can talk abou' what ya gotta do, all right, laddie?"

"I-…" He thought a moment and then nodded. "All right, my dad's probably worried but I don't know how to get back anyway, like you said…thanks for helping me."

"Not a problem at all, Lad," Dirk said with a grin. "Now I'll fetch ya when it's done and in the meantime if Noishe here gives ya any trouble ya just give a holler, a'right?"

Lloyd nodded and the stout man left the room, leaving the large white animal staring at him. The teen nearly went to shoo the animal away before letting out a sigh of exhaustion instead, plopping back on the small bed and staring at the too-low ceiling.

His dad was going to kill him.

Well it wasn't like it was really his fault, was it? Well okay he had wandered off like that but he had just been making sure Genis was all right. …That reason wasn't going to help him at all. He sighed, eyes drifting around the room. There were a variety of crafting goods here and there, he noticed, a lot of strange little charms engraved into some half finished projects here and there- Well, that was kind of weird…

He sat up, frowning as he scanned the half finished objects on the desk at the side of the bed. The engravings all looked like something out of Lord of the Rings or the like…it kept astounding him how on an entirely alien planet there were so many similarities to things he'd seen back on Earth. Well, when he thought about it, it probably wasn't as weird as he was making it. This world was just not as advanced, so really it couldn't be that impossible that it was similar to old stuff from Earth…

A whimper from the animal to his side made him flinch, eyes darting over to it and then back at the strange little charms. Then again…it could be this all looked familiar because he had seen it all before. Lloyd sighed a bit at the thought, frowning as he bitterly recalled that little fact. How old had he been then, when they left this place? How did they even do that to begin with? This place didn't even have electricity much less a spaceship of any kind. Well…at least, from what he had seen. It was obvious that someone, somewhere on this planet had that kind of technology- …even more than anything on Earth, that was how that blue-haired guy had gotten him into this mess, hadn't it?

Hesitantly he picked up one of the charms, scanning it intently. He had always had a liking for hand-crafted things, it had been a fun enough hobby. Woodshop in school was always one of his favorite classes (maybe one of his only favorites) and these were very well made. He scanned the one in his hand intently, taking mental notes of how it looked, imagining the movements needed to carve the different strokes. After a moment he picked up another.

He must have really lost track of how long he spent examining them because he heard a deep laugh that made him jump and nearly hit his head on the low ceiling.

"Admirin' my crafts, eh? Ya got a liking fer craftin' yerself, maybe?" the dwarf smiled, teeth oddly white in the bushy facial hair.

"Oh- oh! S- Sorry, I was just looking, I mean- they looked really nice so I was just-"

"Ya don't have ta say sorry, Lad," Dirk said. "We got o'bit before the food's done, if ya want I wouldn't mind teachin' ya a few carvin' techniques."

Lloyd blinked, scanning the odd charms and the dwarf, eyes briefly darting over to Noishe and then back.

"I-…Yeah, I'd like that- if it's no trouble."

* * *

He was going to beat him upside the head; that is if he was still alive.

For the love of all the spirits please let him still be alive.

Kratos frowned as he made his way through the forest, straining his angelic senses to find any trace of his son. The young half-elven boy had explained what happened and he'd been searching the forest ever since then. He tried not to think about it, his son, lost and injured in these woods- or worse.

Just like his mother-

No. He shook his head. He wouldn't let himself be distracted by that right now, he had to find Lloyd, that was his top priority. There had to be some trace of him here somewhere…unless…

Could he have been taken to the ranch? Used as a host body? Killed? No matter what he thought of his thoughts all inevitably led to the worst-case scenario. Damn Yuan, bringing him back into this. He would have much preferred worrying over his son finding a college that'd accept him then whether or not he was locked up in some cell or-

Damn it, there he went again.

Kratos stopped, forcing himself to take several deep breathes. He had to remain calm, he had to think clearly. He had been searching the paths, around the ranch where he could, it hadn't looked like he had been dragged off. After a moment of thinking he decided to follow the river he had passed by not long ago. Perhaps if he had gotten lost he would have found the water and stayed near there, or at least left some trace of where he had gone.

As if reading his thoughts, he found something. It wasn't exactly 'close' to where he was but he could see it nearly clearly with his angelic vision. Lloyd's jacket, his favorite plain red one, caught on a rock midway down the river. Kratos quickly crossed the distance, pulling the tattered cloth out and quickly searching the area around him.

Still further down the river he spotted footprints; they weren't Desians, there was only one and the feet were too large- a dwarf, most likely, he had heard that one lived in this area. A dwarf and-…paw prints, very familiar paw-prints as a matter of fact. Noishe? Had Noishe found Lloyd? He wasn't sure about this dwarf, but Noishe would never had let Lloyd get taken unless he trusted the person he was with, and there was no sign of a struggle of any kind…

Well, he had his lead, that was the important thing.

Kratos followed the trail further into the woods before he came across a door built into the side of a hill, several potted plants and cut trees surrounding the 'yard'. It was definitely a dwarven home… The ex-Seraph frowned, approaching the hefty door and giving it a hard knock. The curtains were drawn in the single window but there was a light, despite the late hour. His advanced hearing picked up the heavy footsteps as the dwarf approached the door, swinging it open and looking up at him. Kratos and Dirk scanned each other a moment, Kratos' grip on his hilt and Dirk with his other hand wrapped around the handle of a very large hammer.

"Can ah help ya?" Dirk asked.

"I'm looking for a boy named Lloyd, seventeen years of age, dressed rather strangely."

"Ah, an' who might you be, hm?"

Kratos didn't get much chance to answer because a blur of white and green barreled to the door, leaping clean over Dirk's head and tackling Kratos square in the chest. The Seraph choked in surprise as Noishe whined, licking viscously and his tail a blur of white and green.

"Noishe!" he snapped, pushing to his feet. "Get down!"

The canine whimpered, sliding back onto his four paws as Kratos got to his feet, brushing himself off. Dirk had an eyebrow raised but didn't get to comment on the scene before Lloyd came into view in the doorway.

"Dad!"

Kratos looked up and sighed in relief, praising every deity he knew of that the boy was safe. Dirk stepped aside, allowing Lloyd to go to his father.

"Dad-"

"Do you know how worried I've been?" Kratos snapped, grabbing the boys shoulders and scanning him over for injuries. "I told you not to wander off, much less antagonize the Desians! Genis told me everything, Lloyd, how could be so reckless? You-"

"I couldn't just let them do that! They were beating the life out of an old lady, what was I supposed to do, let them?!"

Kratos went to speak again then frowned, glancing at Dirk and then back at his son.

"We'll discuss this later," he said coldly, then turned back to Dirk. "I apologize for causing a commotion in your home, sir, and I thank you for taking care of my son. I also apologize for any trouble he's caused you, as he seems prone to doing such."

Lloyd winced at the sharp edge of his father's last few words but said nothing, averting his eyes to the corner of the room.

"Not a'all," Dirk replied with a shake of his head. "The lad's been very polite an' quite good company. Ah must say Ah appreciate how ya raised'im, most humans get rather snippy 'round dwarves."

Lloyd frowned. He had gotten they were a pretty backwards society, but surely they weren't still at the point where they were prejudiced against people born with dwarfism or other deformities, right?

"What does that matter? You're still h-"

Kratos grabbed his arm and yanked him aside.

"Hey-!"

"Excuse us, sir, I need to have a word with him in private," Kratos said flatly, pulling Lloyd around to the side of the mound that was Dirk's home.

"Dad, what did I-?"

"You were about to say he was human," Kratos interrupted quietly, though the scold in his tone was all too clear. "Lloyd, that will likely offend any non-human person."

"What? What are you talking about-? …."

There was a moment of silence in which Lloyd stared at his father, his brain slowly making the connections.

"Wait-…you mean he actually is a dwarf? Like a- dwarf-dwarf? Like a Lord of the Rings type different species kind of dwarf?" he said, staring at his father.

"Yes."

For about a minute, Lloyd wasn't sure whether he thought that was incredibly awesome or if he was panicked as he tried to go through everything he had said with the dwarf and decide whether it had come across as insensitive.

"Now don' be rough on the lad, ah already gathered that he didn't get the difference."

Lloyd flinched and Kratos frowned, looking to the side as Dirk walked up to them, Noishe right beside him.

"Ah hope ya won' be too mad a me fer interruptin', but I figured yah were gonna get after the lad," the dwarf explained. "I don' mind a' all that he didn't think of me any diff'rent, in fact it's rather nice to see a young human that don' care about that sort of thing. I ain't offended or nothin' like that, so don' get after the lad, he's a fine young man."

Kratos frowned a bit and Lloyd shifted his weight uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck as a tinge of a flush appeared on his face.

"Now Ah gotta ask ya two something…Noishe here seems to know both of ya, an' given how ya knew him by name." Dirk looked at Kratos. "Ya know this big mutt too, don'tcha?"

"That is correct," Kratos answered.

"Huh-? Wait, Dad, we do know that weird dog thing?" Lloyd frowned, looking up at his father.

Kratos didn't respond, eyes scanning the dwarf and then the large 'dog', seeming to consider something. Likewise, the dwarf looked like he was seriously thinking about something as well, his dark eyes focused.

"Did ya know a lass by the name of 'Anna'?"

Lloyd flinched and Kratos' frown deepened.

"That's my mom's name." Lloyd said quickly.

"Ah…ah thought so, she did mention a 'Lloyd' an' given how Noishe here knew yah…"

"You were in contact with my wife?" Kratos frowned, eyes on the dwarf.

"…Aye, ah found her at the base o' the cliff…she asked me whether ah'd seen a wee lad or a tall man, ah told her ah hadn't, I did what ah could for her but…"

He didn't need to finish that sentence, they both knew what happened- or rather…what ultimately happened. Lloyd's fingers curled, furrowing his brown in a frown. She had died around here, his mother had died in the middle of some forest on a completely different planet, without either of them there. His eyes narrowed on his father, who didn't meet his gaze. He didn't even know- he still didn't know, how his mother had really died. He-

"If ya want ah can take yah both to'er grave...would've offered earlier, had ah been certain but ah wasn't really quite yet."

Lloyd stared.

He had always wondered why his father had never gone to her grave, why he had never been, why he had never even known where she was buried. Well, it made sense now, he thought bitterly; that never happened because even his father didn't know where she was buried. Kratos went to say something but Lloyd quickly cut him off.

"Yes, please, can you take me to see her?" he said, ignoring the slight hitch in his voice when he spoke. "I've never been to visit her, obviously."

He deliberately put a rather large degree of ice in that sentence before continuing.

"So yeah, please, show me where…she is."

Kratos was silent, as was Dirk while the short man scanned the father and son pair.

"A'right, come along then, it's not far from here a' all."

"Thanks," Lloyd replied.

Noishe gave a low whine, his tail tucked between his legs.

**Okay. Updated. Finally. YAAAAAY (falls to the floor in exhaustion) …College is tiring on so many levels…**

**Oh well, reviews? If you'd like…again, sorry for the wait, hope you liked it though. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up MUCH sooner, like I said, just at this point I was so unsure what I wanted to happen…since it'll impact the entire course of the story and all. But I've got a sure plan figured out finally, so hopefully it'll go smoother from here.**

**And now I shall go play videogames (runs off)**


	8. Chapter 8

**So…yeah…apparently I haven't updated this in over a year. (Sigh) I would apologize but you all know how that song and dance goes now. Still…sorry guys. **

**I know I….take a while, I know I get distracted with other things and well, frankly I do have a life as shocking as that seems. Still, as long as it may take me, I always come back. I appreciate you guys, sometimes it may feel like you don't appreciate me, but regardless, it really means a lot to me whenever I see a review, it means a lot to me when someone takes the time to say something nice.**

**Ah, well nevermind that. Let's get to the part you really care about, hm?**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

Lloyd stood there, staring at the stone for what felt like eternity. His father was beside him and they had yet to say a word to each other. Dirk had left them there but Noishe had lingered, whimpering as he gently nuzzled their sides.

"You didn't even bury her." Lloyd's voice cut in through the silence, his eyes obscured by shadow.

Kratos twitched a bit, the guilt eating up through him and he sighed softly.

"No…I did not."

"Why? Why didn't you even bury her? What was so important that you had to leave her-?"

"Saving you." Kratos interrupted flatly, frowning a bit. "I will not make excuses, you are right, it is my fault. I did not stay to bury her, I wasn't even there for her final moments. I thought she was dead and they were going to kill you next. So I fled and left her behind. I was a coward, I will not contest that."

Lloyd fingers curled into his palms, glaring at his father.

"Who was going to kill me? Who killed her? Is that the reason why we left this place? Someone was after us?"

Kratos nodded silently, his eyes downcast.

"Yes, Lloyd, the Desians. They were after us. They were after that exsphere that you're using now, when it was attached to your mother."

Lloyd's eyes widened, looking to the gem on the back of his hand.

"I- what? Why? You-"

"Lloyd, there are many things you are going to have to know now," Kratos said, looking back at the grave. "They will be difficult to accept, and some things I cannot tell you. I know this will anger you but it's a necessity. In time you will understand. For now…I will tell you why they were after your mother."

Lloyd didn't know what else to do but to nod.

He stood there, quiet and stunned as Kratos explained how he and his mother had met. How he had come across an escapee from one of the ranches, his mother, how they had met and she had been recaptured. How he had infiltrated the ranch to save her and how they had run away together, fell in love, had him all while running from the Desians.

"Eventually they caught us," Kratos explained grimly, frowning. "Your mother was killed when they took the exsphere from her. I reclaimed it and fled with you. The Desians cannot have that stone, it was too valuable to them, something that if they could get hold of would cause even more suffering for this world. It was your mother's wish that I keep it from them, even at the cost of our lives….but not yours."

Lloyd hesitated a moment, unsure how to respond. Finally he lowered his eyes and nodded once.

"I…I understand."

"That's why we need to leave. We'll find Yuan and make him-"

"I'm not leaving."

Kratos cut off, his brow furrowed.

"Lloyd-"

"No. I've made up my mind. I'm not going back. I'm going to help Colette with her regeneration journey thing to stop the Desians. I'm going to help get rid of them to avenge mom and to stop them from hurting people."

Kratos' eyes narrowed.

"Listen to me, Lloyd. I am going to only tell you this once. As soon as we are able, we are going back. We will travel with the Chosen, yes, but only because it is convenient for us. They offered me funds to escort her and she will need to travel, as will we. We will go with her so we have means of traveling while we search for Yuan so that I may confront him about this. Until then we are going to interfere as little as possible, understand?"

"Wait- we're going with Colette?" Lloyd's eyes widened, a grin working into his face. "That's perfect!"

"Did you listen to a word I said?"

"Yeah, I did, and I don't care." The boy retorted, eyes narrowed. "We're going with them so I'm going to help them any way I can, and I don't care if you find that cape-wearing weirdo and find a way back, I'm not going back. I'm going to stay, I'm going to see this through to the end. One of us has to."

The last few words were said not without some ice, Kratos frowning deeply but relenting with a sigh.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah, I guess we will." Lloyd crossed his arms and fixed his father with a stubborn glare.

The man regarded his son a moment then shook his head, sighing and giving the grave one last look. Whatever either had to say to each other was cut off when the dwarf approached them, the blonde Chosen and the two half-elves behind him.

"Sorry ta interrupt ya, but these nice folks were lookin' fer ya."

"Oh! Lloyd!" Colette chirped, visibly relieved. "Genis told us what happened and Kratos went looking for you, so we decided to ask around for you both too…I'm glad you're both okay."

"I'm glad you guys are fine," Genis said with a sigh. "I was so worried after we got separated."

"I'm glad to see you're okay, too." Lloyd grinned, walking up to them. "I got in some trouble but Dirk here helped me out, he's a really nice guy."

"No need ta be thankin' me," Dirk shook his head. "Ah'm sure ya would've done the same."

"Yeah, but thanks anyway." Lloyd smiled, then turned to the others. "Sorry for worrying everyone."

"We were worried you ran into trouble," Colette said. "Grandmother was trying to think of what we'd do if you were not going to be able to come with us…."

"Us?" Lloyd blinked. "Who else is coming?"

"The Professor is, you know, you met her earlier." Colette looked to the schoolteacher, who regarded both the Aurions with cool eyes.

"Oh…well I-"

"I assume you're going to come along with us then? Assuming that's what your father's plans are."

Kratos nodded.

"Yes, he will be accompanying us. He'll pull his weight I assure you, I can't very well leave him on his own to begin with."

Lloyd cast his father an irritated glance but said nothing, knowing there was nothing he could do to contest this.

"Wait, if you're going then where is Genis going to stay? He told me you guys didn't have any other family in the village…"

"Genis is going to be staying with Colette's family until I return," Raine said with a nod. "You don't need to concern yourself with that. For now though it's pretty late, we really should return to the village. We shouldn't have stayed out this late to begin with, but Colette was adamant…."

"I'm sorry," the girl said with a frown. "I just-"

"We know, Colette, you were worried." Raine nodded.

"Ya shouldn' be out so late in the woods, ya'll can stay here the rest of the night. Ah don' have too much room, but enough fer ya all to have a place to rest yer heads. The young lady can have mah bed and the miss can have the sofa. As fer the fellers I'll find places on the floor…"

"We would very much appreciate that, Dirk," Raine said with another nod.

"I concur," Kratos nodded. "Thank you very much for your kindness."

"Ah, no need fer that," Dirk laughed heartily. "Ah'm familiar with them, if yer friends of them it ain't no trouble at all."

"You're friends?" Lloyd tilted his head to the side curiously.

"Dirk comes into town to assist with building projects from time to time, we see him around." Genis told him. "He's really nice, but I'm sure you know that already."

"Oh yes, Mr. Dirk is very nice!" Colette chirped.

"Ah, well that's mighty sweet of ya. Fer now we should all get some shut-eye, aye?"

* * *

Lloyd found himself unable to sleep, staring at the low ceiling of the earthen home. It had been a long, very, very strange day after all. With all that had happened, all he had learned….earlier that day he had been sleeping through chemistry and playing football, now- wait, it had to have been more than a day. That was….yeah, it had to have been more than a day by now, when they left home it had already been dark and when they got here it was sometime in the morning. He'd gone through like…two days already, geez, why wasn't he conked out sleeping right now? Was it that 'nap' he had had earlier after falling in the river? Or adrenaline? Nerves? He just couldn't relax….

The teen sighed, bringing up his hand to stare at the back of it. Due to his father's urging he had bound it in bandages, obscuring the stone from view but he knew it was there, sitting there… His mother's, they had killed her for this stone, it was important. If she had been so desperate to protect it from them, he swore he would, too. Still, these exsphere things were a mystery to him in themselves. They- wait…

He frowned, scanning the room. Where was- Genis and his dad were gone. When had that happened?

Lloyd slipped outside, putting on his coat and shoes. Where could either of them had gone? He didn't have to wonder very long, he had barely gotten outside when he spotted his father.

"Lloyd, get back inside," he said sharply.

"What-? Dad what are you doing out here? Where's Genis?"

"Snuck off, by the looks of it," Kratos frowned, kneeling down to look at a footprint the young mage had left. "It's dangerous in these woods alone, especially at night. Do you know where he might have gone, Lloyd? These tracks aren't headed for the village."

"They aren't? I don't-…oh no," he whispered, feeling the color bleed from his face.

"What is it?" Kratos half asked, half demanded.

No, the kid couldn't have been dumb enough to go back, could he? After what had happened earlier at the ranch, it made sense he would be worried about that old woman, but- no! He couldn't have gone back…

"Lloyd, answer me. Now. This is important."

"I- he…he might have gone back to the ranch, there was this old woman he was friends with and she was in trouble-"

A scary look flashed through his father's eyes and he cut off, staring at him.

"Get back in the house, Lloyd, and stay there. Do you understand me?"

"What- what are you going to do? Are you going after him? Then let me go, I went with him the first time so-"

"Get inside." Kratos said, his voice low, deep, and not just a bit dangerous. "I'll go after him. If Raine asks then say nothing. I'll handle this."

The man turned, took a few steps then paused.

"Lloyd."

"Yes?" he asked.

Kratos turned back, walking up to him and then taking his hand. The man slipped the gun from earlier from his pack and then placed it firmly in Lloyd's hand. Lloyd's eyes widened, about to ask.

"There are only a limited number of shots, only use it if absolutely necessary." Kratos stated, his expression gravely serious. "You should not have to, but just in case."

"I- Dad I don't know how to….I can't use one of these."

"You will if you need to."

That was that, there was no time for Lloyd to argue. Kratos turned and disappeared into the woods. For a while the young man could only stare after his father and then back at the weapon in his hands, trembling a bit.

Then he clenched it tightly, making sure the safety was on and stuffing it in his jacket before going into the woods after his father. It would be his fault, he felt, if something happened to Genis after all this. Attacking the guards had been his idea, Genis wouldn't have gotten noticed at all, if it hadn't been for him. If he got caught now, who knows what they would do to him? He knew his dad would get mad at him, but so what? The old man was always mad at him, at least this time he'd be mad at him for a good reason, rather he'd be in trouble for a good reason.

Besides, he had a bad feeling about this whole thing.

It turned out, that feeling was correct. When he managed to get to the ranch he climbed up to the vantage point they had used before, peeking down into the fences from behind some brush. Something was going on, he could hear that from where he was. There was shouting and a young voice, Genis' probably. Lloyd's throat tightened when he saw what he had feared, some guards had Genis in the ranch-yard and they were beating him as he lay curled up in a ball, sobbing. His blood boiled with anger and he went to leave his hiding spot when a hand grabbed his arm, yanking him down. A hand slapped over his mouth before he could shout and his father's voice whispered in his ear.

"I told you not to come," he hissed. "For now just keep quiet."

Lloyd nodded quickly and his father removed his hand.

"Stay quiet, stay out of sight," the man said sharply in hushed tones. "Do not do anything, just stay undetected, am I clear?"

"But Genis-"

"I'll see what I can do, but do as I say. If you don't listen to me it will make it hard for any of us to get out alive."

Lloyd bit his lip, his eyes darting back to the unfortunate half-elven boy but he grudgingly nodded his consent to his father.

Kratos slipped away without another word and Lloyd watched the scene unfold. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying. For the time being they had stopped hitting Genis, who sniffed and peeked out from under his arms. They were saying something to him, and they were looking off down one of the pathways. From the angle Lloyd was at, he couldn't see what they were looking at but whatever it was it had horrified Genis. The young boy let out a scream and had leapt to his feet, attempting to run forward toward it before the guards knocked him back on the ground. Lloyd felt his blood chill when the guard grabbed Genis' head and forced it up, making him look at whatever was happening.

The young swordsman barely registered, briefly, a look of pure horror on the mage's face before a screeching roar shook the area. Lloyd hissed and clamped his hands over his ears, eyes widening as he saw something emerge from behind the building, down the pathway he could not see. It was a monster, that was the only way he knew how to describe it, even from the things he had seen in this world it was a monster. Something about it was- the other monsters seemed….'natural', for lack of a better world. Like they were just animals in their own habitat, like they belonged there. This was not, this was a monster in the truest sense of the word, something abnormal, unnatural, horrific. Genis was crying and Lloyd nearly leapt from his hiding spot when suddenly all the lights shut off.

There were shouts of confusion and panic, quickly followed by screams, then silence. Lloyd panicked a bit himself, unsure of what he should do. Then he heard more muffled screams, from Genis. Quickly, Lloyd descended the cliff-face and headed for the sound. He found Kratos holding Genis just a bit down the path from the open gates, the young boy failing in the man's arms, a hand over his mouth. Tears were flowing from his wide blue eyes, his fair skin even more pale than before.

"Genis- Dad, is he okay?"

Lloyd cut off abruptly once he saw his father's face in the dim moonlight. His father was never the most relaxed or happy person to begin with of course, but the drawn, pale face with the dead eyes told the boy that whatever had upset Genis was equally traumatic for him.

"Guys-"

He heard a loud thump behind him, followed by a screech.

"Lloyd!"

Next thing he knew he had been flung through the air and crashed into the ground, the rocks cutting up his face and side. He jerked his head up, his head and vision swimming. The creature from the ranch was currently swiping at Kratos, who was blocking its claws with his sword. Genis was in the middle of what appeared to be a nervous breakdown, sitting on the ground in a heap and staring in numb terror at the scene. Lloyd grunted, struggling to his feet and reaching shakily for the swords he had at his hip.

Then the unthinkable happened. With a great swipe the creature knocked his father's sword away. Lloyd's eyes widened, stunned. He had never, ever seen his father make a mistake, much less one like that, at such a crucial time. Then the claws were coming again, about to impale his father, so he did the only thing he could think to do. Lloyd grabbed the gun from inside his jacket, aimed it at the creature's head and fired. It seemed like slow-motion, the beast crashing onto the floor and Genis letting out a shriek.

"Marble!"

Lloyd froze in his tracks, his heart stopping.

Marble? Marble, that old woman? What the hell? What was he talking about?

The creature gave a raspy breath, choking, and Lloyd knew it was dying. It was dying, the monster, but Genis had called it 'Marble'- what was he talking about? There was no way-

_Genis…._

The voice rung in his head, without any true words or sounds. Lloyd's eyes widened, his arm beginning to shake, the gun rattling in his hand, still pointing where it had last fired. Then Lloyd realized, the clothes the creature wore. Torn, stretched, tattered brown, like a dress…and…and the thing, the chain around its neck, just like the old woman had worn.

Oh God. Oh God, no…

It was Marble, the monster was Marble, the old woman. They had turned her into this…this thing, this creature, they had turned her into a monster and he had killed her.

He had killed an innocent, old woman.

…**.Well…that was….dark**

…**Erm…I promise next chapter will be lighter/sooner? To make up for it? Eheheh…heh…**

…**Review please? **


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